Your Caputo Americana flour, if I remember correctly comes in around the high 12% protein content range and is already malted so you shouldn't have any problems baking at 550F. Every flour will exhibit different dough absorption properties so I would suggest starting out at 60% and adjusting up or down from there if necessary.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

As a rule:
The more flour there is in the biga the softer and more extensible the dough will be, this in turn promotes a larger, more open crumb structure.
As for the amount of yeast used in a biga we found best results when the % of yeast in the biga was the same as used in the dough BUT remember that the the amount of yeast in the biga is based ONLY on the weight of flour in the biga. You then calculate the weight of yeast based on the yeast percent and the TOTAL flour weight then subtract the weight of yeast used in the biga, the remainder is the weight of yeast that goes into the dough side. If the biga is to be fermented overnight the amount of yeast as compressed yeast or its equivalent in ADY or IDY should not exceed 0.25%, this yeast is not considered as part of the total yeast.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I haven't priced them recently but typically the Marsal ovens are cheaper than the rest of the lot. Make sure you're comparing equal size ovens.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Aside from the finished/mixed dough temperature please tell us all you can about the flour you're using.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It'll be hard to go wrong with a Marsal gas fired deck oven. Your baking temperature will most likely fall somewhere in the 500 to 550F range. When locating the oven be sure to allow at least 1.5 times the depth of the oven as free space in front of the oven for the oven tender to work in.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's the procedure but since then I've added the following:
The dough should remain cross stacked until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F/10C. NOTE: The time required for the dough ball to reach this temperature will change with the size/weight of the dough ball, so each dough ball weight will require a different time. Once you have determined the correct time for each dough ball weight you can then go by the time required to reach 50F/10C and use that for your cross-stack time for that dough ball weight.

After the CF (cold fermentation) period, remove the number of boxes of dough balls that will be required for the first three hours of operation, place the dough boxes AT room temperature (70 to 80F/21 to 26.6C) to allow the dough balls to warm TO 50F/10C INTERNAL DOUGH BALL TEMPERATURE. DO NOT ALLOW DOUGH BALLS TO WARM TO ROOM TEMPERATURE!!
Once the dough balls have warmed to the targeted temperature they are ready to begin opening into skins for immediate use. The dough balls will remain good to use for the next 2.5 to 3-hours. NOTE: If your shop is warmer than 80F/26.6C this time will be reduced and you will need to take this into account when determining how many dough boxes to remove from the cooler and at what frequency to remove them during the day.
Any dough balls nearing their expiration time at room temperature can be per-opened, placed onto screens and stored in a wire tree rack in the cooler for use during the next busy rush period. After placing the pre-opened skins into the wire tree rack in the cooler leave the rack uncovered for 30-minutes, then cover with a plastic bag to prevent drying. To use the pre-opened skins, remove from the screen, touch up the size as needed, place onto wood prep-peel for dressing and immediate baking. If baking on screens BE SURE TO TRANSFER THE SKIN FROM THE STORAGE SCREEN TO A SEASONED BAKING SCREEN. DO NOT BAKE ON THE STORAGE SCREEN EVEN IF IT HAS BEEN SEASONED WITHOUT LIFTING IT OFF OF THE SCREEN FIRST AND THEN PLACING IT BACK ONTO THE SCREEN. FAILURE TO DO THIS WILL RESULT IN THE DOUGH BAKING INTO THE SCREEN MAKING REMOVAL FROM THE SCREEN IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT DESTROYING THE BAKED PIZZA.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I don't know if Peter has my Dough Management Procedure posted here but if he doesn't PM me with your email address and I'll be glad to send you a copy of it which will lead you through the entire process from mixer to getting ready to open the dough balls.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Larger cell structure which promotes greater fat absorption during frying. As a general rule your donuts should weigh about the same after frying as they did before going into the fryer, if they weigh more you most likely are experiencing excessive fat absorption.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

To be a little more precise, we've found that in most cases, for a same day preferment, it's best to use the same percent yeast in the preferment as you use in the dough BUT remember that the amount of yeast in the preferment is based only on the amount of flour in the preferment. This amount of yeast is then subtracted from the total amount of yeast (based on the total formula flour). When an overnight preferment is used we found best results using 0.25% yeast (as compressed yeast/CY) or its equivalent in ADY or IDY. In this case the amount of yeast used in the preferment is NOT included in the total yeast amount.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I really can't tell much from the poor quality picture as it's all washed out. The fat flakes will be visible in the dough at the end of the mixing process, if they aren't they won't perform in the manner expected. After mixing allow the dough to rest for about 15-minutes, then sheet out to about 3/16-inch in thickness using a rolling pin or pastry pin. then follow directions provided in my original post.
If you want to read up on a similar process study the "Blitz" method for making Danish Pastry or puff pastry, or even pie dough for that matter, they're all very similar.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What you were missing was the temperature of the bench top. By hand kneading you were exposing a great amount of the dough surface to the bench top which now most likely had a significant impact upon the dough to lower the temperature to something closer to the measured room temperature.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

All Trumps? The single most popular flour used in NYC. It comes in at 14 to 14.5% protein content.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

nhnybo;
Do you cover/lid the fermentation containers when you put them into the fridge?
Keep in mind that by putting the dough into the fridge/cooler the yeast doesn't immediately slow down, there is a significant cooling curve before the core of the dough ball reaches a temperature that will inhibit yeast activity. Part of this long curve is due to the heat being generated by the yeast as a result of heat of metabolism which can amount to a temperature rise of 1F per hour, so we're removing both the latent heat in the dough plus the heat being generated by the yeast as it feeds. A tool that we commonly use is to adjust the finished dough temperature. With a higher temperature there will be a longer period where the dough is in the temperature range which will support fermentation and a lower finished dough temperature means that the dough will be in this temperature range for a shorter period of time. For example, if we plan on a 7-day CF period we would target a lower finished dough temperature so there is less up front dough fermentation which means the dough won't be suitably conditioned for use at 24 or maybe even 48-hours but it will be ready to go on the 5th day after mixing and will remain good to use through the 7th day. Conversely, if we target a higher finished dough temperature the dough can be easily made to be ready to use after 24-hours CF and still provide decent results out to 48 and possibly 72-hours, but it's a pretty sure bet that it won't be in its prime out at 7-days. This highlights one of the main reasons why I don't advocate allowing the dough to ferment prior to CF. The dough becomes less dense with fermentation so it is becoming harder to cool and extract the heat being generated by the yeast. This is what leads to inconsistency in the rate of cooling the dough balls and when this happens the inconsistency will result in inconsistent dough performance or even failure several days down the road.
This is also why we highly recommend that the initial cooling of the dough (to 10C) be done with the dough box uncovered, this allows heat to freely escape, prevents condensation from forming inside of the dough box and doesn't create a dead airspace around the dough balls in the box which is just another insulating factor that will inhibit cooling the dough balls at a consistent rate.
As I used to express to my students all the time, the most important factors in making good dough (for any kind of product) are temperature control (without temperature control you cannot have effective dough management) and consistency, whatever you make, if you cannot make it consistently the same all the time, at the end of the day you still don't have anything.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What most people associate with a "yeasty" flavor isn't yeast at all, instead it's the by-products of fermentation that is providing that flavor. Yeast has a flavor that might best be described as somewhat like that of old, wet newspapers, after all, it's a member of the mold family. So, to your question, with IDY or any other type of yeast you will just want to avoid over fermenting the dough. Typical for yeast raised donuts is mix, (75 to 80F) bulk ferment 1-hour, cut into manageable size pieces and form into loaves, allow loaves the ferment for 30-minutes (approx), sheet to 1/2-inch thickness, cut, place on proofing screens, proof at 80 to 85F (90F max.) for about 45-minutes, fry at 365F.
Think of this: a very rich sweet dough will contain over 20% sugar, and about as much fat, the yeast level will be about 4.5% IDY and there is no "yeasty" flavor because the fermentation time is very limited. By the way, the definition of a yeast raised donut dough is a very lean sweet dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

As Peter and many of the community here know, my first experience with pizza was with the Chef Boyardee pizza mix which is really not much more than a glorified biscuit dough mix. Whatever the case, it worked to get me hooked on pizza for life!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The whole point of an emergency dough is to produce a dough which is suitable for making "pizza" (and I do mean "pizza" very generically), within a very short time after mixing. The ingredient amounts are changed as is the dough temperature with the specific intent to give a dough that can be formed into skins for making pizza in as short a time as possible. My own personal best is 30-minutes after mixing we were opening the dough balls into skins and dressing them for baking. Some might equate this to "S-O-S" but it still looked like a pizza so that's what we're calling it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It does need to be pretty well developed but not as much as for making bread. Two hours final proofing time for a yeast raised donut is insane! WWAAYY too long! Try increasing the yeast to get the final proofing time down to about 45-minutes. That will help with the size too and most likely reduce fat absorption at the same time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Sure, not the best but still "pizza" none the less.
Caputo Americana flour: 100%
IDY: 1%
Oil: 1%
Salt: 2.5%
PZ-44 or RS-190 (dead yeast): 2% (variable)
Inactive dry white sour: 2% (variable)
These will be the ingredients you will want to work with, really not much of a challenge to do it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Welcome to the club!
To get some background on deep-dish pizzas spend a little time looking at past discussions on deep-dish pizza, it'll provide a good primer for you to begin journey to making some great pizzas. A couple of things that you will want to have to begin with are an inexpensive scale for weighing ingredients, a dark colored deep-dish pan 1 to 1.5-inches deep and 10 to 14-inches in diameter and a metal blade cake decorating spatula for use in removing the pizza from the pan. If you have any questions about your ingredients just let us know, there are plenty of us here to help you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

How long are you final proofing the donuts? Can you provide a picture of the proofed donuts just before going into the fryer?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Additionally, while the yeast may be semi-dormant in the fridge the flour is still being subjected to the by-products of fermentation (think of like marinating a tough cut of meat) which will have a profound effect upon the dough and crust characteristics after the cold fermentation period. For most of us, we are cold fermenting our dough to achieve certain desired characteristics but we are not typically fermenting the dough to a point where failure is immanent with a little additional fermentation or if the finished dough temperature is a little off the mark so while an additional day in the fridge won't usually result in a catastrophic failure of the dough it certainly will affect some of the dough and finished product characteristics, just not to the point where an unacceptable pizza was the end result.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What kind of flour are you using?
What is your dough formulation?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It's not the fat that retains the gas in yeast leavened dough systems be it for bread or donuts, all the fat does is lubricate the dough for ease of expansion and coat the individual cells for better gas retention. In making butter cream icing as well as many types of cakes the fat does play an important role be entrapping air to provide a nuclei for the crumb structure development, but not in yeast leavened products, not even in sweet dough which can contain as much as 24% fat. Just for the record, low ratio cakes will typically contain fat (as a plastic fat) at an amount at least equal to that of the flour or 100%.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Since there is no real way of knowing the strength of it I'd suggest using it at maybe 10% and start out with 0.1% IDY addition and make the necessary corrections from there.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

OK, if you say so. We will always make the best product using that which we have the greatest confidence in. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael;
I used to do that myself when handling extremely high absorption doughs but changed over to using a little oil on my hands years ago.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

PizzaCalcio;
In what way is spring wheat flour a lower quality flour? Just curious as to what your thoughts are.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

How old is the starter? Under what conditions are you storing it?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, high protein (13 to 14.5%) flour isn't necessarily needed in a commercial pizzeria environment. Your decision on flour protein content will depend upon the following:
Type of pizza you're making.
Type of store (DELCO or dine-in or both)
How long you want to hold the dough for and under what conditions.
The dough management procedure you use.
The manner in which the dough will be opened into a skin.

One type of flour that I never recommend for use in a pizzeria is all-purpose flour (AP flour), the reason for this is because there is no one accepted identity for all-purpose flour. Because of this it can be made from a  blend  of strong wheat varieties giving it the performance properties of a pretty decent bread type flour while at the same time other manufacturers see it differently and make it from varieties of soft wheat or even a blend of hard and soft wheat varieties. The fact is that if you buy an AP flour from one manufacturer it may or may not perform the same or similarly to that from another manufacturer. Flours that are sold as "bread" flour have an intended purpose (to make bread) and all of the milling companies mill their bread type flours to be very similar to that of their competition so if you had to change suppliers (like that has NEVER happened) you wouldn't see much, if any, change in flour performance. Once you enter into the realm of "bread" type flours there are flours of different strength and these are differentiated by their protein content with the lower protein content flours being the weaker (10.5 to 11.8%) and the higher protein content flours (13.4 to 14.5%) being the strongest. Right in the middle you have the flours with 12 to 12.8% protein content which many (myself included) look at  as being a good, all around pizza flour. You can go with a higher protein flour but you will pay more for it and you should have a specific reason for using it (like a New York style pizza which is chewy) or if you will be a DELCO operation chewy is a bad word so by opting to use a lower protein flour in the 10.5 to 11.8% protein range you can reduce some of the chewiness.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The main byproducts of fermentation that we're concerned with are carbon dioxide, alcohol and acids (acetic, lactic and propionic) plus the necessary time for for amylase and protease enzymes to do a little of their magic too. All of these combined, give us a finished dough with specific handling properties and a finished (baked) crust with certain targeted flavor and physical characteristics that we are trying to achieve. While many dough recipes and formulas do say to allow the dough to "double in size" this can be hard to ascertain in view of the wide range of dough absorption that can be employed in making the dough, for example, a 70 or 75% absorption dough will not visually look the same after "doubling in size/volume" as a 55% absorption dough would. What you are proposing I think would be assuming that a colder dough, if allowed to ferment long enough to double in volume would be the same as a warmer dough that has doubled in size (maybe I'm wrong on that?) but the truth is that the colder dough would be different from the warmer fermented dough even though they are both at the same volume, the reason being that the colder temperature has slowed or stopped the enzymatic activity and the ratio of those three main acids of fermentation will have changed which results in a different finished product flavor profile. I think it would be safe to say that there are just too many different things happening during the fermentation process to go by the volume of the dough alone.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If slimy is less sticky....OK? In my world a little dusting flour makes my dough feel a lot less sticky than water and what are you going to do with a wet, slimy dough ball, aside from making a giant dumpling out of it?
The change in the % dough absorption is easy to calculate with either dusting flour or "water". Just weigh the dough ball before putting it into the dusting flour or water, then weigh it again after putting it into the dusting flour or water, this will give you the weight gain in of the dough ball due to the flour or water. Now, divide the dough ball weight by the sum of the total bakers percent after dividing it by 100 (easy to do by just moving the decimal place two places to the left). This will give you the flour weight in the dough ball. Lastly, divide the dough ball weight gain by the flour weight in the dough ball and this will give you the percent increase in absorption for the water or add it to the flour weight and divide the dough absorption percent by the new flour weight to find the impact on dough absorption that the added flour weight had.
Aren't you glad to didn't sleep through math class?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you will search back in the archives for discussions on biochemical gluten development it will help you understand gluten development. I used to teach home pizza making to residents here in Riley County, KS on weekends during the summer months. The only tools that were needed to make the dough were a suitably sized bowl and a wooden spoon. We mixed the dough using just a wooden spoon (has to be wooden) this way everybody knew when to stop mixing (when one was in fear of breaking the spoon it was time to stop mixing). The dough was then scraped out of the bowl onto a lightly oiled counter top, it was pulled and stretched just a couple of times to allow it to be formed into something resembling a ball, this was then placed back into the bowl which had been lightly oiled, a piece of plastic (Walmart bags were pretty commonly used) was placed over the container to prevent drying, the dough was allowed to ferment for 90-minutes, it was then turned out of the container onto a lightly dusted surface and kneaded/stretched just a few times (less than a minute) and placed back into the container to continue fermenting for another 90-minutes, the dough was then turned out of the container again and cut into four pieces, each piece was gently formed into a ball (care was taken so as NOT to stress the dough. The dough balls were covered with the same piece of plastic that was used to cover the fermenting dough and allowed to rest for 30-minutes, each dough ball was then opened into a skin by demonstrated methods (rolling pin/pastry pin/hand stretching), they were then dressed and baked in the home oven that was available in the host's kitchen. Everyone was amazed at how easy it was to make the dough (NO STRENUOUS KNEADING) and no watching the clock as all of the fermentation periods are VERY flexible so it's something that can be done on the side while you're busy with other things in your daily life.
For toppings I asked each participant to bring with them anything from hot dogs to hamburger to left overs in the fridge. This gave them the ability to use pizza as one might think of hash (a place to use left overs). At the end of the session there wasn't a bad pizza, nor a hungry person in the group.
Too many time we over think the process of making pizza and become intimidated by our own thoughts, as you can see from the above process it really isn't that difficult to make a basic pizza. Once you have mastered the basic pizza you can then branch out and explore making other types of pizza by different and more involved dough making processes. Remember the evolutionary progression of learning to sit, butt scoot, crawl, table surf, walk, trot, run but only after that can you branch out into long jumping and pole vaulting. Making pizza follows a similar progression, hopefully on a faster track.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

And then there's the 5-second rule.
For those who don't know what that is:
If no one is looking and you can pick it up off of the floor in less than 5-seconds it never happened.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For us its sweet basil, tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, chives, and our staples are potatoes, snow peas, radishes, Blue Lake beans, beets, turnips, and Swiss Chard (all grown for the greens) and our winter favorite butternut squash. With the exception of the snow peas and squash everything is grown in large plastic tubs that once held calf starter feed. Our driveway is a little over 90-feet in length and I have one entire side of it lined with the growing tubs tubs and in addition we have a fenced off garden area in the back yard. If you add in our gooseberry and blackberry bushes, apple, peach, pear and apricot trees along with a couple of deer that I take every year we are pretty self sufficient food wise. Because we do essentially all container growing the garden is really easy to care for and to harvest from, but then there's all the preserves to make and fruit to dry and that alone will take almost 6-weeks out of our lives every year. In the winter though it's nice to sit back and enjoy that summer and fall harvest while watching the snow fall, knowing that as soon as it stops I'll be out plowing our cul-de-sac and neighbor's driveways.
When you get to be 78-years old you've got to look for things do to keep out of trouble!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Scottr;
Yup, there's your answer.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When we were doing research on dough we were always hesitant to use doughs made with less then 500-grams of flour weight because they were difficult to scale accurately, did not interact in the mixers in the same manner as a larger sized dough did and only provided a single test sample (you need at least 3 samples per batch to have any confidence in the results you're getting), and that is why I'm not a fan of making very small size doughs.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

First off, why such a small dough size? Go with a dough sized 5 to 10 times that size. It looked more like you were trying to ball the dough than to knead the dough. The larger size dough will be a lot easier to knead than such a small dough.
Consider this, you mentioned "mixing" the dough so it sounds like you have a dough mixer. Normally the dough is not kneaded after mixing but if you want to it only needs to be kneaded for a couple of minutes, not 10 minutes as I heard mentioned. With the larger dough size you can let the weight of the dough ball work for you or you can practice bench kneading the dough, this is where the dough is placed onto the bench and pulled/stretched then laid back upon itself numerous times, there are some good videos I'm sure, which will demonstrate this method of kneading.
You really need to make a bigger dough to practice kneading
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Keeping the fat clean does help but I'm betting that the length of time the fryer is used has more to do with it. If you fire up the fryer and leave it at 365F all day long the fat will tend to go rancid faster than it would if you just fire it up to use it for an hour or so each time. The actual type of fat also plays a HUGE part in determining how fast the fat will go rancid.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Dough absorption is ALWAYS based on just the water, never the water + oil. The oil should always be shown in the dough formulation as an ingredient percent based on the weight of the total dough flour aka bakers percent. With that said, since oil is a liquid it will possess the ability to alter the viscosity of the dough at high levels, for this reason we will take into account the amount of oil being used in the dough as an added ingredient when determining the dough absorption to be used.
Regarding your last sentence, I think that was in reference to making pizza using commercially frozen dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The dough should feel "lively", as opposed to like putty but it should not have large gas bubbles in it either because these will manifest themselves in the finished donut too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I wouldn't say that your time was limited in any way unless we are talking about a commercial pizzeria setting, but as the dough temperature increased after the cold refrigeration period the dough will not get any easier to work with and in fact, it might even begin to get gassy to the point where bubbles in the dough become an issue.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You tossed them out? Remember what we always say; Even our mistakes can taste pretty good too! If nothing else it would have been a good learning experience for you in opening a soft/slack/extensible dough which you might not otherwise get.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've visited a lot of different type of forums over the years and one thing that I can attest to is that pizzamaking.com is one of the most sharing (by all participants), respectful and civil of all the forums. This is in great part due to the tremendous efforts of Peter, which in my world don't go unnoticed. Pizzamaking.com, if not already, is well on its way to becoming the most recognized collective authority for knowledge for the home/hobby pizza maker in the world which is quite an achievement for all at Pizzamaking.com!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Manually flatten the dough on the bench as you would for shaping bread dough to make a loaf of bread (plenty of good videos on the Internet), then fold the ends in a few inches and loosely roll (about 1.5 curls) like a jelly roll, place onto a lightly floured sheet pan, lightly dust the top of the dough and cover with a sheet of plastic and allow to relax for 20-minutes, or just until the dough can be easily rolled to a thickness of 1/2-inch/12.5-mm. for immediate cutting.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Make the dough again but next time use only 1/2 of the amount of starter. If that improves things you can begin incrementally increasing the amount of starter until you see or experience something you don't like, then back the amount down a little and that'll be the maximum amount you can use of that SPECIFIC starter.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

After removing the dough from the fridge a good rule is to allow it to warm AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature is in the 50 to 60F range. The dough will be a little firmer and easier for some to handle at the lower end of the temperature range while at the upper end the dough will be softer and more extensible and easier to open only if you possess the necessary skills to open a soft and extensible dough and peel it into the oven without creating a disaster.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A couple of things that I see;
1) I'm assuming the 80 to 85F water is for activating the ADY, but that temperature is not correct, it should be 100 to 105F.
2) You are using ice water, but what is the finished dough temperature. The finished sough temperature is what sets the stage for the fermentation that is to come. If the dough temperature is too cold the dough ferments too slowly and if too warm it will ferment faster than anticipated.
3) I see you are using a poolish, how much of the total flour is in the poolish? How much yeast? Temperature of the poolish? How long do you ferment the poolish for?
4) Hand or machine mixing?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

One of the problems you can have by putting the salt into the dough after the fat has been added (high fat doughs only) is that it can be difficult to dissolve and disperse the salt in the dough unless the salt is a very fine granulation salt. The presence of salt in the dough prior to the addition of the fat will not have any impact upon how the fat disperses in the dough.
Are you making pizza or donuts from this dough? The picture that you attached looks more like a pizza skin. Normally when we open the dough for making donuts we open it to a thickness of about 1/2-inch/12.5-mm. using a rolling pin or a pastry pin to achieve a smooth, flat surface to the top of the dough sheet prior to cutting with a donut cutter for "hand snapped" donuts.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm betting that if you read the label on the bag of flour that it will not mention anything about the addition of malted barley flour or enzymes. This would be an indication that you do not have a malted flour. The two options then would be to add more sugar ot to buy some diastatic malt and add that to the dough. With the malt products that you have available to you locally you will need to add between 1 and 2%.
On a different note, I'd suggest investing in a low cost scale as well as a dial/stem type thermometer, this will allow you to begin scaling your ingredients as opposed to using "estimated" volumetric portions for your "recipe". With all of your ingredients in weight measures it will be easy to convert the formula into bakers percent which will then allow you to begin making effective changes to the formula to achieve your specific desired characteristics. By weighing your ingredients you will also significantly improve the consistency of your pizzas from one bake to another.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Bringing the dough balls up to room temperature after CF is probably not the best thing for you to do. Instead, allow the dough balls to warm AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches something in the 50 to 60F range, keeping in mind that the lower the temperature the easier the dough will be to handle and the higher the temperature (60F) the easier it will stretch, not a bad thing if you have the ability to work with a softer dough condition.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I neglected to mention that in these cases the dough is mixed to just short of the desired gluten development before the fat is added, failure to do so might result in being unable to achieve the desired level of gluten development in the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When dealing with high fat content doughs it's preferable to add the salt right up front in the mixing process and hold the fat out (like with the delayed oil addition mixing method) only this applies to all types of fat, both liquid and plastic. The reason for this is because at high levels, in addition to interfering with flour hydration it also plays havoc on gluten development often resulting in atypically long mixing times.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When we say 100% fermentation we are saying that the dough has been fully fermented (ideally fermented) for the product being made under a specific set of conditions. For most white pan bread doughs using the straight dough procedure and a finished dough temperature of 80F. 2.5-hours of fermentation time is typically considered to be 80% fermentation. However, this can change dramatically if you have a different finished dough temperature, more or less yeast, more or less salt, or a very strong flour. This is why we seldom use this expression of fermentation anymore. The one thing that we do concern ourselves more about is the fermentation tolerance of a flour, some flours are very tolerant to fermentation while others are not. We can see this with some of the Caputo flours where not more than 12-hours of total fermentation time is recommended.
When I first started doing my research on pizza back in the mid-1960's it was thought that both bread and pizza production shared the same technology, but as we got into understanding more about pizza it was clear that pizza production had a technology of its own and it took us many years to unravel that technology.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It's important to note that in addition to daily filtering of the frying fat and cleaning of the fryer they are adding fresh oil every day too, this is important to note since by doing so you are continually diluting the old frying fat. In commercial operations it is not unusual at all to end up replacing 50 to 100% of the fat weight on a daily basis.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Probably not as you want a pizza dough to be more relaxed than it would be for making bread. If the dough is not relaxed (through fermentation) you will only be fighting it as you're trying to open the dough into a skin, and then if you are successful, it will most likely just shrink back in size during baking.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

QJ;
If you don't mind the garlic a bechamel sauce works well or if you want something a bit more subtle a basic Alfredo sauce can be used equally as well.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I should also add that if you are mixing the dough by hand the preferred method for adding IDY is to put it into about 5 times its weight of 95F water (the temperature is critical with IDY) and all you need to do is to stir it to form a suspension, you can then add it directly into the remainder of the dough water in the mixing bowl. If you have the salt in the water in the bowl it's important that the flour be ready to be added immediately following the addition of the IDY suspension. Also, unless you're doing it for the exercise, there is no benefit to stirring the salt into the water, just dump the salt and proceed to the next step. When it comes to making yeast leavened doughs temperature reigns supreme. Since temperature is the #1 driver of fermentation you will want to control it very closely and record it as part of your dough record keeping. For most of us, a finished dough temperature in the 75 to 80F range works well and if you're cold fermenting the dough we have some good practices for effective dough management posted here that might help you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Amen! With practice comes proficiency, with proficiency comes new and even more exciting things to explore along the pizza making journey.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Walter;
Remember the the battle cry of us AARPers! Work smarter! Not harder!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Rancidity will even occur in the refrigerator or even the freezer. If it's going to be that infrequently it's a moot issue, fry, drain and discard.
If this is for a commercial application write it off as a bad idea.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A lot of the answer to that question lies in what is being fried. Take donuts for example, new frying fat makes for crappy donuts so we ALWAYS seed the new frying fat with a portion of the old fat. If you're frying things that put a lot of sugar, flour and seasonings into the fat you will need to filter the fast on a daily basis, but if you're frying things like French fries you can go several days between filtering the fat and because potatoes by themselves remove flavors from the fat you might be able to get away changing out the fat only once a week depending upon how much material you're putting through the fryer. In my opinion the worst thing to fry is tempura coated anything. Pieces of the coating are blown off in the fryer, and the coating is high in water content which can lead to hydrolytic rancidity, both of these combined means that you'll probably be cleaning out the fryer and filtering the fat daily while changing the fat on a much more regular basis that you would for any other product. It should go without saying that if you are frying fish and then want to fry donuts a change of the frying oil is in your near future.
As mentioned by others, oxidative rancidity is always an issue with frying fats, this is why commercial frying fats contain anti oxidants and anti foaming agents.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Calzonemaker;
Different products exhibit differences in fermentation, when making pizzas there are a vast number of different flours of varying strength used to make the pizzas. If the pizza will be lightly loaded you can get away with a lot of over fermentation but if the pizza is to be loaded with a lot of toppings it may well collapse under the weight of those toppings if the dough is over fermented or fermented too much for the strength of the flour. Bread is all but intolerant of over fermentation because the dough is proofed to such a low density prior to baking and then it has to be handled when placing the bread into the oven, these conditions make the dough a prime candidate for collapse unless the flour is sufficiently strong or exhibits good tolerance to fermentation (a common characteristic of U.S. and Canadian wheats/flours but not always true for imported flours made from soft wheat varieties.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

beeuu;
The question that begs to be asked is how did you add the ADY and IDY. you told us how you added the CY but not the ADY and IDY.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'd go with upping the yeast a little to maybe 0.125%
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I use left over turkey all the time, even tried it a time or two with stuffing. Use both just like any other added topping ingredient. For a cheese topping I am partial to using a blend of mozzarella and ricotta applied in dollops. I've even added the mashed potatoes too, just place them on the pizza in dollops like the ricotta. For this type of pizza my preference leans towards using a white sauce rather than a red sauce since it ties the pizza together better than a red sauce which just seems out of place.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your starter might be too strong or your flour might not be strong enough to handle the starter strength under those conditions.
Hard to tell with limited data.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Flour: 100%
Salt: 2.5%
IDY: 0.375% (variable depending upon dough management procedure)
Water: 60%
Add water to mixing bowl, then add the salt, flour and IDY.
Mix at low speed for 2-minutes, then mix at medium speed just to form a smooth dough.
Target finished dough temperature 75 to 80F.
Immediately scale and ball.
Lightly oil dough balls and place into individual fermentation containers.
Place in fridge UNCOVERED until INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F. then loosely cover/lid the containers.
NOTE: THIS PART MAY CHANGE DEPENDING UPON WHICH "00" FLOUR YOU HAVE.
Allow dough balls to CF for 24 to 48-hours.
Remove from cooler and allow dough balls to warm to 50 to 60F INTERNAL dough ball temperature.
Open into skins for immediate use.
Note: There are MANY different ways to work with "00" flours, this is just one of them.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Use a stem aka dial type thermometer to measure the INTERNAL dough ball temperature after the CF period. When the internal dough ball temperature is in the 50 to 60F/10 to 15.5C range it is ready to open into a skin for immediate use. From what you have said I'm guessing that you are allowing the dough to get too warm before opening it into a skin.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Peter is absolutely correct. Learn the basic and easy to make pizzas first using common, off the shelf ingredients. You will be able to hone your pizza making skills while building your confidence, then, using your new gained skills you will be able to venture out into other types of pizzas or upping the game by experimenting with different ingredients above all else, remember to change only one thing at a time when it's time to begin experimenting, go slow and easy and smell the pizzas along the way, the rewards are delicious!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Walter;
What would we ever do without duct tape?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I think I found our why your pizza slice was wet and soggy!!!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

With American style pizzas using approximately 0.375% IDY (instant dry yeast), with effective dough management and a room temperature in the 70 to 75F range we will typically allow the dough balls to set AT room temperature until they reach 50F/10C before we begin opening them into skins, once we begin opening the dough balls into skins they will be good for the next 2.5 to 3-hours. Any unused dough balls are not put back into the fridge as this creates an inconsistency for those dough balls on the following day (consistency is the name of the game), instead, we convert those dough balls into things like bread sticks and garlic knots which can be par-baked and used on the following day without any issues. Additionally, you can also use left over dough balls in your new dough but the amount that you add should not exceed 15% of the new dough weight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In the Philadelphia area there was a pizzeria where the owner mixed all of his dough by hand. His doughs were based on a 50# bag of flour, however he did not knead the dough in the truest sense of the word, instead he just combined the ingredients by hand and let biochemical gluten development do all the work for him. If when you say "knead" you mean it in the literal sense a dough sized on 20-pounds of flour weight will probably all you will want to wrestle with and even then you will be on the fast track to achieving your secondary goal of developing arms like the village blacksmith. Anything smaller just gets easier.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael;
I used to say that knowledge is like a fine wine, if it's not shared it's just wasted.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We really need to know more about your dough formula and how you're managing the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Before we go off on a tangent, you're talking about total dough size/weight....right?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Without knowing the strength of your sourdough starter it's impossible to answer your question. The best advice I can offer you is to make three doughs at 4%, 8% and 12% starter and see which one performs the best for you under YOUR specific conditions.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael;
I've never been so fussy that I didn't sneak a piece of the overturned pizza after evaluating it, like we used to say in the lab, it's all in the name of research!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Par-baked crusts are always going to give you a finished pizza with a lower moisture content in the crust. If you want to avoid that you will need to par-bake the crusts with some steam in the oven or add a gum to help retain moisture in the baked crust. We recently had some discussion on this very topic which you might want to check out.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Par-baked crust, or anything else for that matter, is actually fully baked, it has to be in order to avoid collapse during cooling. If you are getting too much color during the par-baking phase you will need to REDUCE the baking temperature and possibly extend the baking time. The idea in par-baking is to achieve an internal dough temperature of 190F. Once you reach that IT the dough is fully baked and should have minimal crust color development.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you REALLY want to see what the crumb structure looks like do as we did when we did our research on pizza, turn it over and cut it from the bottom up using a razor knife or a VERY SHARP serrated knife. This way you do not drag the sauce and cheese down over the crumb as you do when you cut the pizza from the top.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It sounds like you are not allowing sufficient time between bakes to allow the stone to fully recover its latent heat (in short, the stone is cooling off). If your oven has bottom heating elements you will need to move the stone closer to the heating element to speed up the recovery time or get a thicker stone, maybe a baking steel. It looks like you are using a "00" flour so you may find that you will need to increase the sugar level to achieve top crust color after moving the pizza stone closer to the bottom heating element. Assuming that you are allowing at least an hour for the stone to fully heat up?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The only work that I've been involved in with amylose, not high amylose (starch) flour was in research on low calorie bread back in the days of low calorie breads in the early 1970's. Since amylose is a resistant (non-digestible) starch we were looking at it as a possible substitute for micro-crystalline alpha cellulose in making bread similar to the then popular New Horizons low calorie bread. We don't fully understand the bread staling phenomenon even today. It has been shown to be at least partially due to retro-gradation (crystallizing) of the starch while other studies have implicated the protein fraction of the flour more than the starch fraction. Some of the more effective enzyme anti-staling agents used in white pan bread production are based on the starch model. These use a heat resistant amylase enzyme to hydrolize a portion of the starch in the baked bread, thus releasing its bound water making for a softer, more moist crumb structure which the consumer perceives as being less stale. Since a resistant starch would resist being hydrolized it would remain intact, acting more like a fiber than a starch, hence, there is less starch present to participate in the staling process. I would guess if it's a softer pizza that you're after this might be something to look at in greater depth. I've never looked at staling as an obstacle to be over come with pizza since many of the characteristics of staling are the same characteristics that we are trying to achieve in pizza. Take par-baked crusts for example, most would agree that they make pretty decent pizza (both thick and thin crust), a crust can't get much more stale than a par-baked one and yet we still think it's pretty good in many cases.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor 

Scott;
Not that I'm aware of, by design they all round a pretty tight ball. The rounding bar is the only truly adjustable rounder but when getting a lose ball you also get a poorly rounded ball.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's correct, there is indeed calcium in the mozzarella cheese too but it doesn't interact with the sauce in the same manner as a fine powdered cheese does, just like swallowing a piece of chalk doesn't work as well as drinking the milk. Which is probably why they don't say to eat a piece of cheese to counter the effects of ingesting an acid or alkali as much as we might like to it just doesn't work as well .
I use Parmesan and/or Romano as I'm always trying to up the flavor profile of the mozzarella cheese. If I'm not worrying about the acidity of the sauce my preference is to use shredded Parm and/or Romano in addition to the mozzarella.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

My all time favorite is just Stanislaus 7/11 Ground Tomatoes (with peel). Use it straight from the can with nothing added, then add a little fresh basil (sliced into strips) and maybe a little crushed garlic over the top of the sauce, add the cheese and dress to the order. DO NOT add any garlic or onion product to the sauce! This will act as a catalyst resulting in gelling of the tomato pectin within 24-hours. If you JUST GOTTA have garlic or onion in the sauce put it in a small amount of oil and nuke it to over 190F to deactivate the enzymes responsible for the gelling of the tomato pectin, then add it. I don't like doing this as it potentially reduces the flavor impact of the onion/garlic.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I got the idea to pursue this about 25-years ago when I was reading an article on what to do if someone ingests different poisonous/harmful materials. One of the things mentioned in the article for acids or caustics was to drink milk as the calcium content works to buffer the acid or alkali, this got me to thinking about the acidity of the tomatoes, and sure enough it appears that the calcium content of the cheese works in a similar manner to that of whole milk as it also seems to buffer the acidity of the tomato in the sauce and the flavor is right at home on a pizza too. Just goes to show ya, answers to problems can often be found in the darnedest places.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Does Combs, St. Paul or Pettigrew ring a bell with you? Just wondering (they're in N.W. Arkansas).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

My guess is that the dough was over fermented to the point where it was becoming "bucky", when it's like that the dough will exhibit very elastic properties with any work put into it, like trying to open the dough into a skin. Best thing to do in a case like that is to re-ball and play the waiting game until the dough relaxes again which will allow it to be opened into a skin relatively easy.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If the pizza has a crispy crust it has to be somewhat dry resulting in some thirst....hence its popularity as a bar food. Eat pizza = drink more beer!
If you use a tomato based sauce it's always going to be a bit acidic as tomato is an acidic fruit. You can tone this down a little be adding a powdered cheese (Parmesan & Romano) to the sauce. The calcium content of the cheese helps to balance the acidity of the tomato.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The Dutchess divider/rounder machines aka "shaker machines" are great machines and have been around for a very long time. I see you have the steel plattens (as they are called), these are (in my opinion) better than the plastic ones. When set-up to do a 36-piece divide& round they are the industry standard for making small scale hamburger and hot dog bun production runs.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

With those conditions the dough will not be properly baked out, so in that case I would expect to find that it has an alcohol aroma, the same would be said for raw dough which the dough that you've described is just half a bubble off of.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, not always. Flour characteristics, dough formulation, fermentation and bake will be the major contributors to chewier eating characteristics.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

While you're at it get yourself a dial/stem type thermometer too as you will want to have one so you can measure the water and dough temperatures. Additionally, do you have an oven that gets hot enough to bake a pizza made with "00" flour? The oven needs to be able to reach temperatures north of 750F, if not, you would be better served using a domestic bread type flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Even when alcohol is added to the dough, such as in the case of making a beer crust, there is no additional residual alcohol in the finished crust....it's that volatile.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You're going to have to experiment to find out. The key is in having sufficient R.H. to prevent a skin/crust formation on the dough. A good way to do this at home is to place a wet towel in the area where the donuts will be proofed (an insulated ice chest works well) and prevent exposure to drafts.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Welcome!
Where abouts in Arkansas?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Sandruz;
Just confirming that you are pre-hydrating/activating the ADY prior to addition and nit just adding it dry as you would IDY. You can save yourself some work by doing the following:
1) Add the ADY suspension to the dough water and mix into all of the flour.
2) Add the salt directly into the flour in step #1 above.
3) Mix the dough at this point until it just until all of the flour has been whetted, then add the oil and mix for 1 additional minute at low speed, then mix at medium speed just until a smooth dough appearance is achieved.
4) You're not going to see much, if any difference between "bulk" and ball fermenting with such a small dough size so you could ball and CF after 50-minutes room temperature fermentation if you wish.
Note: This all all based on the assumption that you are machine mixing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The preferred way to add IDY is to add it to the dough after a few minutes of mixing providing that the dough will be machine mixed for a minimum of 5-minutes after the IDY has been added. The second preferred method, and possibly the most used, is to add it directly into the flour. By design, IDY hydrates very quickly (that's where the "I" comes from), so it is easily damaged if not properly hydrated (95 to 100F water). Yeast will exhibit about a 20-minute lag phase after addition before it begins to actively ferment in a dough environment at a temperature between 70 and 85F.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

An autolyze is necessary when using whole-wheat flour or any type of multi-grain blend (lots of discussion on this), and it is also useful when working with high absorption doughs (over 70%), as well as when mixing the dough entirely by hand. When machine mixing I've never found any great advantage to using an autolyze. In my world an autolyze is what the old time bakers used to refer to as a "soaker" consisting of just flour and water. As soon as you put yeast into the picture you no longer have an autolyze, but instead you now have what's called a biga, a sponge or a brew. It has a very different effect on the flour than an autolyze.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Glad to hear that all went well, we wouldn't want to disappoint those guests!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Remember that you can manually round the dough to just about any level of "tightness" you want, it sounds like you have been rounding your dough loosely which is common for those who wish to use the dough balls relatively soon after rounding. Most rounders are designed to round the dough tightly, some even use two rounders in tandem, or pass the dough balls through the rounder twice as this provides for a better dough ball shape especially after several days of cold fermentation. You're not doing anything wrong, the rounder is just doing what it was specifically designed to do.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Scott;
Yes, track/screw/cone type rounders are not well suited to handling the soft and usually sticky/tacky dough consistency associated with sourdoughs. A good alternative is is a horizontal or belt type rounder sometimes called a bar type rounder. This is a horizontal belt with a specially designed bar placed diagonally across the belt. As the dough ball moves along the belt it contacts the rounding bar causing the dough ball to spin forming it into a ball, however, some oil is required with the use of these rounders. If you're interested in knowing more about this type of rounder I think AM-Manufacturing uses then in some of their high volume hot press equipment packages.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Walter;
The best thing about the free standing models as opposed to the bench top models is that they can be easily rolled aside, out of the way, when not in use.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I can't argue with you on that! For me though, no matter how you cut it, it's still a cheese pizza!
So much for history and lore.
Maybe someone can shed more light on this?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The Marsal ovens are great ovens but they do not get as hot as a wood fired oven can. With that said, they will certainly serve you well for making New York style pizzas. Also, in New York City it is common to use All Trumps flour (14% protein content) so any good, strong Canadian flour should work well for you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It appears as if there is too much top heat being applied to the pizza during baking. Sometimes spritzing the top of the pizza (cheese) with water can help.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Definitely cool it on a rack, I typically use a spare pizza screen for a cooling rack. If you don't you will just force moisture back into the baked crust and run the risk of getting a gummy crust or collapse of the crumb structure during the cooling of the crust.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I didn't either, I always thought that the Margarita had the colors of the Italian flag in honor of Queen Margarita/Margherita.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When you see this beginning to happen in the oven break out your handy "bubble popper" aka BBQ fork to deflate it and press it down a bit. It will also help if you cool it upside down too as this will help to flatten the top.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Now I'm beginning to wonder where the green color on a Margarita came from? Hummm
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You just put the IDY into about 5 times its weight of water at 95F. and remove an equal amount of dough water. No other changes are needed. Many of us already do something similar to this when we need to use just a very small amount of IDY, For example, let's say you need to use 1/10-gram IDY but your scale won't handle anything that small, what to do?? Just weigh 1-gram into a container with 10-ounces of 95F water, stir well to SUSPEND the IDY and portion out 1-ounce of the suspension, there will be approximately 1/10 of a gram of IDY in that 1-ounce of yeast suspension, just make sure you also reduce the dough water by 1-ounce too.
If the IDY is unopened you will lose about 25% of the gassing power from the IDY after 2-years of frozen storage. If the package is opened all bets are off of the table. We found the best way to store IDY is to leave it in the original container, use what you need, fold the packaging down tightly to the IDY in the package and secure with tape or a rubber band. To use the next time: DO NOT use directly from the fridge or freezer!! Instead, remove from the fridge or freezer and allow to set at room temperature overnight, then use what you need and repeat the above procedure. This will reduce the probability of forming condensation in the package which is death to the IDY. We never recommended holding IDY after opening for more than 3-months (refrigerated or frozen) for home use. If you're into vacuum packaging you could break a 454-gram brick down into smaller portions and vacuum package for refrigerated or frozen storage of a year or more. Opening a package and putting it into a glass jar with a tight fitting lid serves no useful purpose as the idea is to exclude as much oxygen from the package as possible, that's why the 454-gram bricks are vacuum packaged. By folding the packaging down around the IDY and securing tightly you effectively reduce the head space in the package and reduct the contact with the air in the package which is necessary for effectively storing the IDY.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Condensation = water which will be absorbed into the dough over time, then when you go to bake the pizza there is a wet spot in the dough which produces copious amounts of steam or vapor pressure resulting in a beautiful bubble on your pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In one of the later tests that we did on pizza we looked at what was the major cause of heart burn with individuals who ate pizza but had stopped eating it due to the heart burn issue. While it is true that highly acid foods can cause heart burn, in pizza we found that it was the dried basil and dried oregano that were more often than not the culprit. When we deleted these ingredients from the pizza and replaced them with fresh basil or oregano leaves our test group said that they did not experience the heart burn they had previously experienced and indicated that if given the opportunity to purchase the pizzas made using the fresh basil and/or oregano they would consume pizza more frequently. As an off-shoot from this study we also found that our sensory panel could taste the cheese better than when the dried counterparts were used. We confirmed these observations by making pizzas using only fresh basil and/or oregano and putting them out at the Ohio Pizza Show as well as the PMQ Pizza Show and asking samplers for their comments. The #1 comment was: "What kind of cheese was used to make this pizza? It has a great flavor!" We were using 4-ounces of Grande whole milk mozzarella on our 12-inch pizzas.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The crust that forms is actually insoluble so spraying with water really doesn't help much. Mixing it into the dough as you've done is OK and you'll probably not even notice it with a thin crust pizza but in some cases it will form hard little bits (like what's this?) in the finished crust. The best way I've found to address this is to just leave the dough alone after covering it, then orient it so the crust is on the bottom when you open the dough into a skin. The way crackers are made is to sheet the dough into a continuous ribbon and apply heat along with airflow to the top of the dough to form a dry skin/crust. The dough is then laminated (referred to as dry laminating) and the process repeated again to achieve the desired flakiness in the finished cracker.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You can certainly speed up the proofing process by placing the panned dough into an environment where you have not more than 105F with 85 to 87% relative humidity. A warm place with a damp towel draped over the pan seems to work pretty well for me (just be careful so the towel does not contact the dough or it will stick to it). I use a piece of plastic when proofing at room temperature but when proofing at an elevated temperature I get too much condensation formation on the plastic which drips onto the dough, the damp towel provides the humidity while preventing condensation from forming.
You will have to experiment with proofing times under YOUR conditions to arrive at a proofing time. Using four pans of panned dough, allow to proof for 15, 30, 45 and 60-minutes prior to baking, dress each pizza the same and bake all at the same temperature, then pick the one that you like best. If you have kept track of the times and temperatures and you can replicate the proofing conditions you will have your parameters for making your Sicilian style pizzas.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When we did studies on IDY we found that 95F was the ideal water temperature for suspending the IDY in. A variation of as little as 5F higher or lower resulted in a reduction in gassing/fermentation performance with a greater loss in performance with a lower water temperature than 95F. This is not due to a difference in the yeast itself but instead in the way the yeast agglomerates are designed. They are designed to be fast/instant hydrating, as a result when hydrated in cold water glutathione is leached out of the cells which impairs the ability of the yeast to ferment and the now free glutathione will act as a reducing agent (just as "dead yeast"/RS-190) does making for a softer, more extensible dough condition at the expense of an inconsistent rate of fermentation.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your issue is with fermentation, not proofing of the dough. Proofing is done after you fit the dough into the pan and it ends when you bake the pizza. Most Sicilian pizzas are proofed for about an hour before baking.
By all means reduce the yeast! Remember, we're making pizza dough, not nitroglycerin. Even in commercial application we have to make yeast and/or temperature adjustments for walk-in coolers which are very efficient and reach-in coolers which are not as efficient.
After you take the dough out of the fridge and open it up to fit the pan it will warm up quit fast but it's normal to pull the dough out of the fridge a couple hours before that to allow the dough to warm up (50 to 60F), so now the dough is actually at fermentation temperature already. I usually cover my Sicilian style pizzas with a sheet of plastic for the proofing stage. You will need to experiment with the proofing time depending upon your dough formula and dough management procedure to determine what time actually works best for you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When using IDY how are you adding it? The conversion from CY to IDY is to use roughly 60% less, not more. If you are machine mixing you can add the IDY directly into the flour providing the total mixing time is 5-minutes or more. The other way to add it is to suspend it in a small amount of 95F water (USE A THERMOMETER) and stir to suspend, there is no need to activate it as done with ADY.
The only real difference between CY and IDY is moisture content (approximately 80% for CY and 6% for IDY). Because IDY is instant hydrating (that's where its name comes from) it is very easily damaged if hydrated in water that is too hot or especially too cold.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The amount of diastatic malt, like all of the other ingredients, is based on the TOTAL flour weight which includes both the flour in the dough and the preferment.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The higher protein flours are used in hamburger and hot dog bum production for the resilience it imparts to the crumb structure. When made using low protein flour the crumb structure lacks resiliency and becomes somewhat crumbly.
In hamburger bun production, if you want to add seeds as a topping all you need to do is to lightly spray the surface with water and the seeds will stick just fine PROVIDING THAT YOU HAVE NOT ALLOWED THE CRUST TO BECOME DRY PRIOR TO APPLICATION OF THE WATER SPRAY. If the crust has dried a cooked starch application will be your best chance to make the toppings stick after baking. To make the cooked starch just add 1-ounce of corn starch to 1-quart of water and heat just until it begins to simmer, allow to cool until warm (not hot) and carefully brush onto the top of the buns just before adding seeds, etc. The starch wash also imparts somewhat of a shine to the crust too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Sounds like it was what is referred to as a "long flake" crust.
This is where the fat is refrigerated until firm but not hard, it is cut into the flour until the fat pieces are about the size of cherries. The pie dough is then formed into pucks, placed on a sheet pan and covered to prevent drying, place in the cooler over night then brought out on the following day. They are allowed to warn AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the sough can be rolled to about 3/16-inch thick, fitted into the pie plate (pan), filled, top crust applied, sugared or egg washed and baked.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There are at least two documented cases of clostridium in vacuum packaged tortillas coming from Canada, that's two too many! Work that was done at AIB (American Institute of Baking) back in the 50's confirmed that clostridium can grow in bread stored in an anaerobic environment, this is reason enough for ME to take vacuum packaging VERY seriously. When I refer to just plain freezing I'm referring to non-vacuum packaging of the product and then placing it into the freezer for storage.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Just about any unmalted flour can be successfully used for high temperature pizzas.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

None, it will just show up as another ingredient at ).5%, the sum of the percentages will also increase by 0.5% to 167.75%. That's one of the nicer things about working in bakers percent, since all ingredient weights are based on the total flour weight if you change the weight of any ingredient (except for the flour) everything else remains the same. If you were working in "true" percent if you change the weight of ANY ingredient the percent of ALL the others has to be recalculated.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Scott;
I've seldom ever really found it necessary to go with a dough divider as it's really pretty easy and accurate to scale the dough by hand like Walter said, it's the rounding that catches up with you, so hand scaling isn't all that bad but you can really "grease the wheels" with a dough rounder. By far, the most efficient method for hand scaling the dough it to cut it into strips (called ropes) and then use your cupped hand to work it out to about the same diameter along its entire length, then cut a piece off and weigh it, the idea being to find the length that gives the targeted weight, once you develop a feel for it this method can be VERY fast. During our seminars two of us could scale and ball (using an AM Dough Rounder) 85# of dough into 10-ounce dough balls in less than 20-minutes. We used to make a challenge out of it to see how many pieces we could cut that were the exact targeted weight, my personal best was, I believe, seven dough pieces in a row. I might add that we only did this once a year so it wasn't like we were doing it every day either! We could also round (ball) the dough manually in under 20-minutes too by using the two handed balling procedure (shown in my dough making video at <www.doughdoctor.com>) but I'll be the first to admit that it'll catch up to you sooner than later.....give me a mechanical dough rounder!!!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael;
The problem with durum semolina flour has to do with the type of gluten it produces, a very tough and elastic gluten, to be sure. This is why it is mostly used for the production of pasta. It can help produce a crispy crust but at the expense of added toughness as the pizza cools off, like in a DELCO scenario. It's for this reason that we've always suggested to limit its use to not more than 25% of the total flour weight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Durum semolina does you no favors if your main concern is tenderness.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There are, but you will need to change gears and look at bakery dividers (ram and knife). These are designed to degas fermented doughs for consistent scaling weights. The bad news is that they are large (even single and double pocket dividers are pretty large for a pizzeria) they're potentially expensive and they may not work well with weights much under about 10-ounces. Even the big wholesale manufacturers divide the dough prior to fermentation, they then round (ball) it and give it an intermediate proofing period just prior to final shaping (usually hot pressing). In other cases they will process the fermented dough on a stress free sheet and die cut processing line (think of processing 4,000-pounds or more of dough per hour before ordering one) which minimally degasses the dough while forming it into a continuous sheet from which individual pizzas are die cut and then usually go to an oven for par-baking, then to cooling and a trip through the finishing room where the par-baked crusts are dressed, then blast frozen, individually packaged, boxed, palleted, and placed into a holding freezer to await transportation to a distributor.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

As long as you are at or above the 50 to 55F range you'll be fine.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The somerset is a good unit and it works very well, too bad they staged the video using previously rounded dough balls...dumb mistake! The other rounder that I like a lot is the AM Manufacturing rounder, you wouldn't go wrong with either one.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Shrink wrapping and putting the pizza in a plastic bag are essentially one and the same. Airflow in a package? Go back and read the article referenced above by PIZZA_NOT_WAR and I think you will have both questions answered. A number of years ago I had a person contact me regarding a problem he was having, some of his packages were blowing up (bulging), his concern was how to find a gas permeable packaging material to allow the gas to escape!!! He didn't even recognize the potential of what he was for causing illness or worse! This is why I always recommend that anyone getting into anything more than just plain freezing ALWAYS have a microbiologist on staff. The question of the day referencing the issue cited above: Would you consume anything taken from a bulging can? How about a canned product taken from a jar with a domed lid?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, your problem is due to collapse of the crumb structure resulting from insufficient baking of the crust. It is NOT a drying out issue. In order for the problem to be resolved you have to achieve an internal temperature of 185 to 190F to fully set the structure, anything less than that and the structure will collapse upon cooling. The idea behind par-baking is to achieve a full internal bake (185 to 190F internally) while developing a finished crust color that might be best described as being "sandy" in color. If you get too much color during the par-bake the crust will either get done too soon or it will get too much color when the pizza is fully baked. If you want to see an excellent example of something that is par-baked just take a look at those par-baked dinner rolls that you'll be buying in a few weeks to go with your Thanksgiving turkey.
The reason for using a screen under the skin during baking is because it helps to reduce some of the bottom heat (remember, pizzas ovens are designed to provide more heat to the bottom of the pizza than to the top during baking).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your case is not so uncommon where you are looking for a characteristic that you might or might not get so in that aspect it's always elusive. When this happens the issue is almost always attributable to some kind of inconsistency in what is being done. In reading through your formula and procedure it appears to me that your are not being specific on times and temperatures (remember the acronym "GIGO" garbage in garbage out. In this case it's "IIIO" inconsistency in inconsistency out. You're on the right track by buying a thermometer so you can document things like flour temperature, room temperature, water temperature and finished dough temperature. By tracking these you will be able to develop a chart for determining the correct water temperature to use to achieve your desired finished dough temperature. This is vitally important as you are bulk fermenting and just a few degrees difference in finished dough temperature can make a big difference in the total amount of fermentation the dough received over the following 18 to 20-hours.

Which brings me to times, pick a time that works for you and then just be CONSISTENT, use that time fermentation time consistently. You will also want to be measuring the dough temperature when you scale and ball it and again when you go to open it into a skin. While the 2-hour difference between when you begin opening the dough balls until you finish opening them may not seem like much, it can make a HUGE difference in the finished crust depending upon the temperature of the dough balls at the time when you begin opening them. I think after you begin addressing these inconsistencies your results will be much more consistent and you will either have your 10 or possibly 11 or at the very least you will be able to make adjustments to the dough/process which will allow you to move closer to the desired finished crust characteristics.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You have the wrong type of dough docker (metal pins?) The most effective dough docker is the DDCH7755 from American Metalcraft <www.amnow.com>. I'm sure there are others like it but this will give you an idea of what it looks like. Since you have an IR oven set the emitter temperature at 650F for both the top and bottom, if the oven doesn't show emitter temperature set the actual baking temperature at 400F. If the oven has an open chain conveyor, bake on a screen but if it has a woven wire band you can bake directly on the band. Baking time will be a bit longer at about 3-minutes.

What you have described is a classical case of dough collapse due to insufficient par-baking. The minimum par-bake time in an air impingement oven will be about 2-minutes at not more than 400F and even then it won't be the best par-bake either. This is because if the oven is profiled to bake pizzas on a raw dough skin, as most are, it has full open fingers across the bottom and and a combination of open and partial or even closed fingers across the top which results in the top of the skin receiving less bake than the bottom (that's a similar heat pattern to that which is used to bake pita). Now you know why the skin wants to "pita" during baking.
Since I didn't see anything about docking, I'll assume you're not docking the skin. You best chance to accomplish what you are trying to do is to dock the skin, place it on a pizza screen and bake it at 400F for 2-minutes. You may need to adjust the baking time and temperature slightly but this will get you very close. A difference of 10-seconds in bake time can mean the difference between success and failure....it's that sensitive. Also, immediately upon removing the par-baked crust from the oven turn it upside down for cooling.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Here is a good starting dough formula:
Flour: Bread type flour with 12 to 12.8% protein content 100%
Salt: 1.75%
Sugar: 2%
IDY: 0.375% or CY: 1%
Water: 62% (variable)
Oil: 2%
Put water in mixing bowl, add salt and sugar, add flout and yeast on top of the flour. Mix until no dry flour can be seen in the bottom of the bowl, then ass the oil and mix an additional minute at low speed, then finish by mixing 8 to 10-minutes at medium speed. Target finished dough temperature is 75 to 80F.
Take directly to the bench for scaling and balling.
Scale and ball entire dough in not more than 20-minutes.
Place dough balls in dough boxes and lightly oil the top of each dough ball.
Cross-stack dough boxes in the cooler until INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F.
Down-stack and kiss the dough good night.
Allow to CF for a minimum of 24-hours (48-is better).
Remove about a 3-hour supply of dough balls from the cooler and allow to set AT room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F.
Begin opening the dough balls into skins as needed. They will remain good to use for about 3-hours.
Any unused dough balls can be opened and placed on screens and stored in the cooler in a wire tree rack (cover with a plastic bag to prevent drying)
To use these pre-opened skins, remove from cooler 20 to 30-minutes prior to anticipated use time, then REMOVE FROM THE STORAGE SCREEN and place onto your baking platform (screen, disk, pan, etc.), dress and bake as normal.
Note: Pomace grade olive oil is better for use in the dough than EVOO, it's cheaper too!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Also, when checking around, don't forget to look for steel cake pans, they cone in both steel and aluminum and are available in a host of different sizes. I've got a few in 8 and 12-inch (square) X 1" deep with a dark green finish (called Bake-Prep) that work reasonably well.
They went for next to nothing when AIB liquidated its baking facility.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Check the bags to make sure they all have the same milling lot number. Also, remember that storage can/will affect the flour too. If the flour has been stored for a period of time (slow turn over by your distributor) it will dry out. Flour will typically have about 14% moisture content at the time of milling and bagging but it can dry out to as low as about 10% due to long storage times (+/- 3-months) from the date of milling.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Have you looked at the pans from Crown Cookware <www.crowncookware.ca>, they carry a lot of the same type of pans that Allied carried. We had a few of their pans when I was at AIB and they held up as well as those from Allied Metal.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

So you question is; Why is there a variation in the amount of flour in bags from the same delivery.
Your observations are spot on, we've seen this all the time over many years, but we don't see much variation in the actual weight of the bag when you include the tape and thread. This is why I've always advocated weighing each and every bag of flour. The variations you are encountering are from the fact that the bags are automatically filled on high speed handling equipment. While any one bag might be "off weight" if you weigh a group of ten bags the average of the ten will be correct. By the time the equipment adjusts for an off-weight the bag has already moved on and the next bag is being filled. This is why the weight seems to float between slightly heavy and slightly light with a few spot-on for good measure. It's only the bags that are out of set tolerance that are automatically pulled from the line. We've also documented that the closer you are in dough absorption to either of the extremes of high or low, the more apparent these variations become.

Also, keep in mind, as I've said so many time before, flour is not a constant, it's really quite variable. The age of the flour or wheat from which it is milled will affect it, the conditions under which it's stored will affect it, and the grist (collection of wheat varieties) from which it is milled will affect it. The millers do a great job in providing us with flour as good and consistent as it is. I have two heroes in my life, the flour miller and Betty Crocker!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When mixing dough by hand I like to add the water then the salt and sugar and the yeast (both ADY and IDY are added in a water suspension) then the flour, I then begin hand mixing to incorporate everything, then I allow the dough to rest (autolyse) for 45 to 60-minutes before continuing with my hand mixing process.
When machine mixing I add the water first, then the salt and sugar followed by the flour. IDY or CY are added right on top of the flour, but ADY is added in a water suspension. Mixing is then started. If oil is used I follow the delayed oil addition dough mixing method.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The one place where the individual tins really shine is when you're dealing with a high absorption dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm, still trying to find the pizza in it? 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There are generic pizza boxes and there are pizza boxes with custom printing on them. Many pizzerias will sell advertising space on their pizza boxes to help off-set the cost of the boxes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The spots, actually "speckles" as they are referred to as are most commonly associated with oxidized particles of wheat bran, they are harmless and don't show up in the baked product. Once in a while we come across something that's similar which is caused by yeast agglomerates resulting from using ADY as one would IDY (adding it directly to the flour or dough rather than suspending it in water to hydrate and activate prior to addition). The same can result from the addition of IDY directly to the dough and not mixing the dough long enough after the IDY addition (5-minutes is recommended). This is why my preferred method is to add the IDY directly into the flour as it's hard to go wrong that way.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Why not just make your own? A food mill will allow you to make your own from fresh or canned tomatoes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What are the dough weights and production numbers we're looking at? Will this be for a conventional (yeast leavened) dough or a sourdough?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm not sure about hamburger buns being more "healthy" than pizza but here goes.
0) No "rules" or "standards" but they are expected to be soft and pliable.
1) A strong bread type flour with 12 to 12.8% protein content works best.
2) Typical salt level is 2%, this is to provide a controlled rate of fermentation, dough strength, and flavor to the finished bun.
3) Typical sugar level is 13%.
4) Dough absorption is variable between 58 and 62% depending upon the absorption properties of the flour.
5) No need to use milk in a hamburger bun dough formula.
6) If you want to achieve a flavor from the milk use at least 5% butter milk solids. NOT LIQUID MILK.
7) I can think of no logical reason for wanting to use milk of any kind in a hamburger bun aside from flavor see #6 above.
8) Absolutely correct.
9) This process is essentially a small portion of the flour made into a roux and added as an ingredient. If the flour is not malted, does not contain any amylase enzymes and has been milled from wheat with absolutely NO sprout damage it can be beneficial in making a softer bread/bun BUT if the flour has been malted or contains amylase enzymes or has been milled from wheat having ANY sprout damage the enzymes will hydrolize the damaged starch(cooked starch) in the roux converting it to sugar and releasing the water to create a wet, sticky dough.
10) 4 to 6% fat is typically used.
11) Today oil is mostly used as it promotes a softer crumb structure but indeed butter could be used.
12) If a plastic fat is used it can be added up front but if an oil is used it should be added 1 to 2-minutes into the mixing process (delayed oil mixing procedure).
13) When potato flour is used it is common to add it at 2% of the flour weight. Be sure the dehydrated potato DOES NOT contain any sulfites.
14) Yes, that's how it was done prior to the advent of dehydrated potatoes.
15) 80/20 Sponge & dough process with 3.5-hours sponge fermentation time.
16) It provides the necessary control over fermentation to produce finished buns with the desired flavor and even more importantly, finished shape characteristics along with the resilience needed to hold up to having a hot meat patty placed in it along with high moisture content condiments without either cracking into pieces or turning soft and gummy in the consumer's hands.
The sponge is made using 80% of the flour, 55% absorption based on sponge flour weight and 3% compressed yeast, set temperature is 75F/23.8C, sponge mix time is generally 4 to 5-minutes, sponge is then allowed to ferment for 3.5 to 4-hours, it is then brought to the mixer where it is incorporated into the remainder of the dough ingredients and mixed to FULL gluten development and in many cases a little more. It is then given a 5 to 10-minute rest period and divided, given a final proof time of 5 to 8-minutes and rolled to a diameter slightly larger than the pan cup, it is then panned, given a final proof (100 to 105F/37.7 to 40.5C) with 86 to 88% R.H. and baked at 440F/226.6C for about 12-minutes.
17) I've not had good success making hamburger buns as described above using the cold fermentation process. The internal crumb structure is always too open and porous.
18) You are looking for a very small and fine crumb structure.
19) Each is formulated differently as there are different expectations for the finished bun.
20) Brioche Buns:
AP Flour: 100%
Salt: 2%
Butter milk (scalded): 5%
IDY: 1%
Sugar: 6.75%
Whole egg: 22%
Unsalted butter (slightly softened): 8%
Water: (100F) 50%
Place water in mixing bowl, add salt, sugar, buttermilk and beaten whole egg, add flour, IDY and butter. Mix using a flat beater until a dough is formed, allow to ferment 3 to 4-hours, scale to desired weight and form into balls, flatten balls to about 3/8-inch/9.5 mm., place on greased baking sheet and allow to proof until at least double in height, apply egg wash or milk wash, bake with steam in the oven at 400F. (if over doesn't have steam place a sheet pan filled with hot water in the oven 30-minutes prior to baking, do not remove until after the buns have been baked).

Potato Buns:
Strong bread type flour: 100%
Salt: 2.5%
Sugar: 4%
Butter: 5%
IDY: 1.25%
Re-hydrated Potato Flakes: 8%
Water: 55%
Target finished dough temperature: 80F
Remixed straight dough procedure:
Place water in mixing bowl, add salt, sugar, flour, potato, IDY and butter.
Mix to form a well incorporated dough (about 7-minutes).
Allow to ferment for 2-hours.
Remix to a smooth, extensible consistency.
Allow dough to rest for 15-minutes.
Divide into desired weight pieces and form into balls.
Allow dough balls to rest for 10-minutes (variable).
Roll out to desired diameter.
Place formed dough pieces on a greased baking sheet.
Allow to final proof (95 to 100F/35 to 37.7C) with 85 to 87% R.H. (proofing time will be variable).
Bake at 420F/215.5C for approximately 15-minutes.

Regular burger buns:
Sponge:
Flour: 80% (strong bread flour)
Water: 55% of the sponge flour weight.
Compressed Yeast: 3%
Mix together for 5-minutes (target temperature is 75F.
Allow to ferment for 3.5 to 4-hours.
Dough:
Flour: 20% (strong bread flour)
Salt: 2%
Compressed yeast: 1%
Sugar: 13%
Oil: 5%
Water: 58% based on TOTAL FLOUR WEIGHT. To find the dough water weight calculate total dough absorption and subtract the weight of water in the sponge, the remainder will be the ACTUAL amount of water to add at the DOUGH side.
Procedure:
Add the dough water to the mixing bowl, followed by the salt and sugar, then add the flour and the compressed yeast.
Mix at low speed for 2-minutes, add the oil or shortening and the fermented sponge, mix at low speed for 2-more minutes, then mix at medium speed until the dough is fully developed and extensible. Target finished dough temperature is 80F/26.6C.
Allow the dough to rest for 10-minutes, then scale into desired weight pieces and form into balls.
Allow dough balls to intermediate proof for about 8-minutes (or until they can be rolled/pinned out to desired size)
Place on greased baking sheet and allow to proof at 100 to 105F/37.7 to 40.5C for about an hour or until the buns are fully proofed.
Bake at 440F/226.6C for about 12-minutes or until the buns have a solid brown color.

21) A good replacement for egg wash is whole milk. Do you really sacrifice an egg every time you make egg wash? I just fry up what I have left over as a treat for the baker "ME"  :chef:
22) Tips:
Always remove baked buns from the baking pan immediately after baking. Cool on a wire rack/screen.
Add variety to the buns by spraying them with whole milk before baking and sprinkling with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, grated Parmesan cheese, fine chopped onion, garlic, or a blend of herbs.
If the buns do not flow out sufficiently during proofing and baking (look like baseballs) the dough may need more fermentation, mixing or increased dough absorption.
I worked with Weber's Bakery in Germany helping them produce hamburger buns for their McDonald's contract back in the 80's during which time I was on the McDonalds Internetional Bakery Products Task Force working with different baking companies world wide helping them produce hamburger buns aka "McDonalds Buns" for their McDonald's restaurants.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor


 

There is also a commercial product called "Through Dough" that works quite well. Its main use is to practice acrobatic dough tossing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It would be a step in the right direction. You're at 1.25% sugar right now, I'd go to 0.5% and bench mark from there. If your flour is already malted you might be able to delete the sugar entirely if necessary.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Oil is a lubricant and the lubricity it provides to the dough helps it to expend. Oil also helps to seal the gas cells within the dough which helps them to better retain the leavening gas produced by the yeast, together these two benefits of oil will result in improved oven spring. However, like all good things too much can be bad too. The addition of up to about 5% oil can be beneficial to oven spring but more than that could have a detrimental affect upon oven spring (it would depend upon the dough formulation). The addition of oil will also have a significant impact upon the mastication properties of the finished crust (oil it a tenderizer) but I did not address this because the question was on oven spring. Oil can also interfere with gluten development which we address through the delayed oil addition mixing method, maybe that's what happened to cause your crusts to go flat during baking?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Great answer!!!
Makes perfect sense.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The dough appears to be a little under mixed but it won't hurt in the least. It'll be just fine.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Not knowing anything about your oven, but can you "dome" your pizzas to achieve the cheese melt (assuming you meant "now as opposed to not), this is done a lot of times where we need to dry off the top of the pizza to achieve the top color and cheese melt we're looking for. The moisture being released from the toppings is blanketing the top of the pizza during baking thus effectively keeping the top cool, by doming the pizza you move the pizza into the intense heat at the top of the oven at the end of the baking cycle just long enough to achieve the top characteristics you're looking for.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It sounds just like the product RS-190 aka "dead yeast" from Lesaffre/Red Star Yeast. The active ingredient in the dead yeast is glutathione, an amino acid contained within the yeast cell. The cell membrane has been denatured allowing for the release of  glutathione into the dough where it acts as a reducing agent much like L-cysteine which is the active ingredient in PZ-44, an ingredient commonly used to impart added extensibility to a dough. Too much will certainly result in a "droopy" dough condition which we used to affectionately refer to as "elephant snot". These materials are potent with actual use levels measured in ppm (parts per million) based on flour weight. Because of this the L-cysteine in PZ-44 is cut with whey to make scaling easier, the RS-190 has a lot of "fluff" remaining from the yeast cells so the material is not pure glutathione. In both cases (PZ-44 and RS-190) the recommended use level is generally considered between 1 and 2% of the flour weight. Like Brylcream, use more only if you dare. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That work shows what we we found as a difference between "true" bulk fermentation and balled dough CF, even to the point of needing more than 24-hours CF to achieve decent finished crust characteristics (this is why I have always said that a dough that is scaled and balled right after mixing and cold fermented can be used after 24-hours but is at its best with at least 48-hours cold fermentation. We saw pizzerias go through something of a hybrid dough stage at one point where they were still bulk fermenting but placing the bulk dough in the cooler, what they accomplished was a finished dough that had bulk fermented characteristics on the inside (core) of the dough mass and CF characteristics where the dough was up against the fermentation container as this allowed heat to transfer away from the dough so the fermentation was totally different in that area, the issue now was that when the dough was used there was no way to distinguish between the two different fermented areas and they were roughly mixed together, the end result was finished pizzas with a blotchy/mottled crust color (less crust color development from the center of the dough mass due to more fermentation and less color from the outer portion of the dough mass where the dough was fermented more like we see in a CF dough). When using strong, tenacious U.S. flours fermentation is a vital key in achieving a tender eating and crispy finished crust characteristic, this is because fermentation conditions the gluten and sets the stage for the oven spring and resulting open crumb structure needed to achieve these characteristics. Weaker flours, milled from soft wheat varieties, typically yield dough that is much more extensible due to the nature of the gluten so they do not usually require a long fermentation time to achieve these characteristics but without the fermentation time there is not the same flavor development either, which is a good case for the use of a biga or sourdough starter with soft wheat flours.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When we did the work we saw very little difference between bulk and balled dough when the total dough weight was 1.5-Kg. The benefits of bulk fermentation come when the dough is sufficiently large so as to continue to heat up due to heat of metabolism which allows the dough to actually increase in the rate of fermentation due to its increasing temperature over the fermentation time. Smaller size doughs/dough balls simply do not have the mass to allow for this to happen and because of this the rate of fermentation is not as predictable or consistent as the dough will be more impacted by the temperature of the room. As an example, when I first started in the baking industry we used to have special rooms with highly controller temperature and humidity (fermentation rooms) just for fermenting our bulk doughs. This was all based on small scale testing that showed this was needed in order for the bulk dough to maintain a predictable/consistent rate of fermentation, then it was discovered that the mass of the bulk dough retained so much latent heat and developed such good insulating properties that it was all but impossible to impact the rate of fermentation of the dough through environmental influence. Based on this, almost overnight the fermentation rooms disappeared and doughs/sponges were bulk fermented at room temperature (regardless of whatever it might be). This practice is still in place today. This is what got us to looking at bulk v/s balled fermentation as it pertains to pizza production back in the early 80's.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You just want to know WHICH Caputo "00" flour you're getting as it can make a big difference in how you manage the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

YT is good but it does have its limits....don't believe "everything" you see and hear on YT.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Just as an FYI, there is essentially no difference when bulk fermenting 1.5 Kg. of dough as opposed to fermenting in dough balls. The reason for this is because up to about 1.5-Kg. dough weight a bulk dough is really nothing more than a larger size dough ball. True bulk doughs will ferment much differently than a dough ball which is the reason why so many pizzerias have transitioned away from bulk fermentation to dough ball fermentation over the past 50-years.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

6C (42F) is not considered to be a safe food storage temperature. In a commercial application it is not even considered as a legal refrigerated temperature, and this doesn't take into account what happens when we are in and out of the fridge many time during the day, which Yael has alluded to. This has to be taken into account when calculating how much yeast to use as well as the total CF time. This is important if you are getting your information from a commercial (pizzeria) source where they have a commercial walk-in or reach-in cooler. Everything revolves around temperature.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've seen nothing unusual with the exception of some spot shortages of yeast and flour early on but nothing lately.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You're going to want to scale and ball the dough and then leave it out at room temperature to relax sufficiently for opening into a skin. The only issue is that 2 to 3-hours might be a bit excessive, if it is, go ahead and open the dough when its ready and place the opened skins on a lightly floured plate or something and hold in the fridge until about 30-minutes prior to use, then remove, allow to temper AT (NOT TO) room temperature for 20 to 20-minutes, clean up the skins a bit, dress and bake as needed.
If your total dough weight will be less than about 1.5-Kg. there is little to no difference between fermenting in a ball or bulk fermenting as you don't achieve the bulk fermentation characteristics with such a small dough size (it responds more like a large dough ball).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

All cards are off the table if the pizza is not completely baked, then and only then can you begin looking at various fermentation times (keep in mind that since acid is produced as a byproduct of yeast fermentation/acids inhibit crust color development)you may need to reassess the baking of the pizzas to get it correct for the fermentation time being employed at the moment.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's really not a lot of fermentation time if "digestibility" is what you are looking for. Remember, fermentation is also a part of the digestion process. The enzymes convert a portion of the starch to sugar for use as a yeast nutrient and the acids produced by the yeast as a byproduct help to break-down the proteins plus there will be some proteolytic enzymes present which will also work to break-down proteins but all of this requires some time which is why a longer fermentation time might serve you better than the short fermentation time you are presently using.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Why not just "bulk" (how much dough weight are we talking about?) and then ball and allow to rest until the dough balls can be easily opened into skins? By going to a higher dough absorption, depending upon your baking temperature) you may have a higher finished moisture content in the crust which will certainly contribute to a softer crust BUT it is a double edge sword in that it will also contribute to a tougher/chewier crust at the same time. If you want to have a softer, more tender eating finished Neo. type crust you might be better served using a lower protein content flour than what you are presently using. Keep in mind though that by doing so you may not be able to ferment the dough as long as low protein flours typically exhibit a lower fermentation tolerance as compared to higher protein content flours.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Steve;
The mechanics of the finished dough temperature are as follows:
Temperature is the #1 driver of fermentation, a higher temperature will boost or speed up the rate of fermentation and a lower temperature will slow it down. Even a few degrees F. will make a difference. A warmer dough temperature than desired can result in more fermentation taking place before the dough is sufficiently cooled to control the fermentation rate, this results in two things happening, !) The dough becomes less dense and a better insulator making it even more difficult to cool, 2) As the dough is fermenting it is also gaining temperature due to heat of metabolism and this heat must be extracted in order to control the rate of fermentation during the CF period. The inverse is also true when the finished dough temperature is colder/cooler than targeted. The closer your targeted finished dough temperature is to 90F the more critical the finished dough temperature is and the more important it is to keep the temperature as constant as possible. At colder finished dough temperatures, say at 70F, the yeast is not as sensitive to slight variations in temperature so we have a little more latitude in the actual temperature. This is all due to the fact that yeast, as a microbe becomes exponentially more active as the temperature of the substrate which it's in approaches 90F. This issue exists in commercial operations with both walk-in and reach-in coolers (tends to be worse in reach-in units due to their reduced efficiency over the walk-in units) but it can REALLY be a problem in home refrigerators which have a 200+  "Energy Star rating" plus they are seldom operating at peak efficiency because we are constantly opening and closing the door over the CF period of time. This is also the reason why residential refrigerators and freezers are not permitted in commercial applications, they typically don't have the reserve capacity to EFFICIENTLY handle things (dough) that are a bit warmer than desired, which results in more fermentation that anticipated at any projected point in time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When I make the higher absorption Neo. doughs I always start out at 75% absorption and adjust accordingly for the absorption properties of the flour from there, so I would not implement any changes, but if you want a softer, more tender eating pizza I would just add some oil to the dough formula. Start at 2% and go up from there to give you what you want, remember, as with any high absorption dough, to reduce the dough absorption by the same % as you add oil.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Actually, there is nothing at all wrong with taking something from different formulas and/or procedures and bringing them together to make something that is unique specifically to what you are doing, that's one of the fun aspects of making pizza (the other is eating it). The work generally centers around trying to figure out how to make those different parts all fit together and play well together to give you the pizza that you want and can make great on a consistent basis.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Steve;
I apologize for the assumption.
As you well know, even the yeast has to be weighed, it's the one ingredient that we typically use which can give variable results with only a small change in the amount used.
When it comes to temperature monitoring, these are the temperatures which we are usually targeting, but like so many other things pizza, they are not cast in stone, they will be somewhat variable with the type of dough management process employed as well as conditions specific to our different kitchens and equipment at hand.
Finished Dough Temperature: 70 to 75F.
Down-stack Temperature: 50 to 55F.
Cooler/fridge Temperature: <40F.
Temperature to Begin Using the Dough after Cold Fermentation: 50 to 60F.
Ideal Fermentation Temperature: 90F. & 85 to 88% R.H.
Ideal Final Proofing Temperature: 95 to 105F & 85 to 88% R.H. Note: In common practice many use 95 to 100F as the optimum "practical" final proofing temperature as R.H. (relative humidity) becomes difficult to control above 100F.
I have not included baking temperatures as they are so widely variable and vary with oven type/design, pizza being made, as well as altitude above sea level.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's a very good and valid point that Yael brings up regarding a home fridge. We encounter a similar issue in commercial practice between a reach-in cooler and a walk-in cooler with the reach-in unit not holding temperature as well as a walk-in.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Do you know what the Lintner Value (degree-L) of your diastatic malt is? for a 20-L the amount needed is only 0.25% of the total flour weight (316-grams in your case) but if it's 60-L the amount would only be a third of that 0.083-gram. Maximum would be about 0.5%. The amount you are presently using is 2.2%. These numbers are based on using unmalted flour but I'm guessing your flours are all malted already so that further strengthens my case that your dough might be over malted which would be responsible for the dough balls flattening out during the CF (cold fermentation) period. You might try leaving the malt out to see f it helps.
The amount of IDY is quite high too at 3-grams for 316-grams total flour weight = 0.949% (almost three times what might be considered a "normal" level of 0.375%, this would explain why the dough balls get gassy soon after removing from the fridge. Lastly, I'd suggest measuring the actual finished dough temperature after mixing. This is important as it regulates the rate at which your dough will ferment. Ideally, you will most likely be best served with a finished dough temperature in the 75 to 80F range, whatever temperature you use remember that consistency is actually more important than the actual temperature itself.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Steve;
One thing that you might want to do is to begin transitioning from a dough "recipe" in volumetric portions to a dough "formula" based on actual weight for each ingredient. These are any number of good scales available on the Internet that many of us here use (I personally love my KD-8000). This change will give you the accuracy and repeatability needed to develop your dough formula(s). A good dial/stem type thermometer for $7 to $12.00 will take care of your temperature needs (be sure to look for one with a hex nut under the head as this will allow you to calibrate the thermometer as needed). Once you have your dough based on weight measures it can be put into bakers percent for ease of evaluation and it will greatly help you manipulate the size of the dough too if you should want to increase or decrease the actual dough size.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In reading your post I have some questions, what was the actual finished dough temperature for the Kyrol and All Trumps doughs? Did you optimize the dough absorption for the All Trumps flour or did you just plug in the same absorption you used with the Kyrol flour? I ask these questions because some of what you mentioned could be due to a difference in fermentation between the two doughs resulting from a difference in finished dough temperature which could have a significant impact upon the dough depending upon how you are managing your doughs. The dough absorption can also be highly variable especially in view of the fact that you are dealing with different brands as well as different suppliers, not to mention the fact that the absorption of any flour can/will vary from bag to beg or lot to lot, and even the age of the flour will have a significant impact upon its performance in both the dough as well as the finished crust. As you can see, there are a lot of variables at play here.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm suspecting some major problem/problems with your dough formula/recipe. Please provide details of your flour, dough, dough temperature, and how you are baking the pizzas and I'll be glad to offer my suggestions.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The two factors most responsible for "digestibility" of the crust are fermentation and quality of bake. The longer the dough is fermented (within reason) and the more solid (complete) the bake is the more digestible the finished crust will be.
From your pictures I'm guessing that your targeting too thick of a crust for high temperature baking which can easily result in not getting the finished crust as well baked as it could be.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The 50 to 55F dough ball temperature after cold fermentation is the internal dough ball temperature. Depending upon your ability level at opening the dough into skins you may find it easier to open the dough at 50 to 55F or at a higher temperature as the dough becomes softer and more extensible at the higher temperatures which can be problematic for someone without the skill set to open the softer dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm in agreement with Yael in his assessment that your dough might be over fermented at 72-hours room temperature fermentation, especially in view of the fact that we don't know the dough temperature or the room temperature. Your IDY amount (1/6th of a Tsp.) works out to 0.5-gram, and assuming 152-grams of flour in your 1-cup portion this works out to 0.328% IDY. This is very close to the accepted amount to use for the same length of fermentation time in the cooler/fridge, not at room temperature, unless room temperature is defined as <40F. If you don't want to cold ferment I'd suggest dialing the room temperature back to 24-hours and if that works for you then begin increasing the fermentation time in 12-hour increments to find what works best for you. While doing this though I would highly advise that you keep track of the finished dough temperature as well as the room temperature as both are highly prone to changing over time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Not more than 0.5%. The numbers I gave are representative of what it takes to replicate the malting of the flour that takes place at the flour mill.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You say you allowed the dough to rise for 6-hours prior to baking, when did you open the dough ball into a skin, before or after that 6-hours at room temperature (whatever temperature that might be).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

My fear is that you are jumping back and forth between sourdough and conventional pizza and bread type doughs, is this a correct observation?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A malted bread type flour will certainly work a lot better for you right now. Read the ingredient label on the flour bag for contains: malted barley flour, or it may just say "enzymes" (which would be amylase enzymes which act as the malted barley flour does). You can also see if you can find some diastatic malt powder. You will want to have a diastatic malt powder with a 20 degree Lintner Value. This will need to be added to the dough as an ingredient at 0.25%. If you get a diastatic malt with a higher Lintner Value divide the value by 20 and then divide 0.25% by the same number to find the amount to add. For example, if you get a 60 degree Lintner Value malt; 60 divided by 20 = 3 so you will now divide 0.25% by 3 = 0.0833% (this is the amount of the 60-L malt that you will need to add).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Without more details it's hard to say what the issue might be but just for grins, try using only 10% of your starter the next time. All starters are different and because of that the amount used will very too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In addition to what Yael has said, with reference to the yeast, within the yeast that you add, some of the cells are budded, and some are not, those that are budded, with sufficient fermentation time, the buds will grow and develop into "daughter" cells however they themselves will not bud (reproduce) which partially explains why fermentation will tend to speed up to a point in the fermentation process and then level off with fermentation continuing at a steady rate until the process is interrupted by alcohol content, nutrient depletion, or temperature.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

At the levels we're talking about using here it won't make a difference which one you use, BUT if you use butter, use it at room temperature and you don't need to use the delayed oil addition mixing method, you can just add it right on top of the flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Additionally, yeast doesn't replicate in a dough, it just feeds and generates by-products of fermentation.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It might. Try 1% powdered garlic (not garlic salt).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Just don't freeze the dough for more than about two weeks, three on the outside, and anticipate a long time for the dough to become active again after the freezing process. This is one reason why frozen dough typically has a higher yeast level.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A number of years ago I spoke with a major pizza box store franchise owner about a similar question, his response at the time was was that one doesn't really begin to make money (as an investment) until he/she owns at least three to five stores. If I remember correctly, at the time he owned about 12 stores and was doing quite well. The old adage of "It takes money to make money", has a familiar ring in this case.
Owning an independently owned/operated store can have its advantages too, but it takes a lot of leg work (blood, swear and tears)  to get it off the ground, and if you're successful at that you will then be faced with getting good help, let me repeat that in another way, getting good help today is the number one biggest challenge an independent store has today. It is also the number one stifle to independent store growth/expansion. But this is the price we pay to be an independent store owner/operator. I might also add, if you are a micro-manager or feel that you just cannot get away from the shop for any reason, abandon any idea of being an independent, you're doomed to failure, instead invest your money in the stock market, you'll be a lot happier and more successful.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We did some work along those lines back in the 1970's but the problem that we had was that we couldn't get consistent results so the amount of mix time reduction and dough extensibility were all over the board. To the best of my knowledge this work was done prior to the advent of "dead yeast" for use as a reducing agent. What has to be done is to heat a yeast suspension to the the thermal death point (140F) to inactivate the yeast without denaturing the glutathione which will now be the active ingredient. Remember, the amount of glutathione used in a dough to achieve desired results is measured in PPM (parts per million), so it doesn't take much to cross the line between something that works well in a dough and something that's disastrous for a dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No correction needed, Peter "nailed it" 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you will email me at <thedoughdoctor@hotmail.com> I'll be glad to send you a copy of my Dough Management Procedure which contains all of the elements necessary for effective management of your dough through the cold fermentation process.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Just a tip: One cannot accurately state the amount of starter needed without first knowing the strength of the starter in question. Commercial yeast (IDY, ADY and CY) are standardized in strength and very uniform/consistent when fresh which is why we can, with good accuracy, predict the amount of yeast needed for a specific fermentation scenario. The same is not true for sourdough starters since they are "natural" and vary accordingly. To recommend an amount of IDY to use we will need to know the specifics (including all times and temperatures) pertinent to your dough/dough management procedure.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael is correct, only the flour, remember....we change only one thing at a time. The list that I provided is a list of options that might help by strengthening the dough, thus allowing it to better support the weight of the toppings without collapse.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Agreed, most sourdough starters do not play well in cold temps, plus if you used your starter at the same level as IDY you were VERY low on leavening. You should have been using it at something in the 5 to 15% range depending upon the strength and acidity of your starter.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I would take the sourdough starter out for now, just use IDY (0.25%) for the leavening. Once you get something that you like you can then change over to your starter at different levels (5%; and 10%) to start with and adjust accordingly from there.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

This may come under the Federal Food Protection Act, if it does, the person committing the crime will be Federally prosecuted and if found guilty will be sentenced to a mandatory 20-years in a Federal prison. This is the reason why we see so little of this anymore. It used to be a lot more prevalent.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Issues relating to excessive elasticity are almost always related to insufficient fermentation in one way or another.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

While I've not done it, your question is interesting. You might try making a dough as follows:
Flour: All Trumps or the highest protein baking flour available (14% to 14+% protein content) 100%
Salt: 3%
PZ-44: 2% (variable)
Oil: 4%
Water: 58% (variable) 70F.

Mix the dough until it has the desired extensibility, scale and ball.
Begin practicing with one dough ball right away, lightly oil and wrap the others in plastic and store in the refrigerator. At some point the first dough ball will become too extensible to play with, at that point re-ball it and place it in the refrigerator and remove one of the other dough balls, keep repeating until fun time is over.
Let us know it this works for you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

With a large dough box and just a couple dough balls it's like putting those two dough balls into a gymnasium and expecting them not to dry out. We just recently had some discussion on this very topic and how to address it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The picture I was referring to appears to be a pan pizza but the outside of the pan appears to be bright and shiny, which would raise concern with bake color especially in an air impingement oven.
What do you have for a top and bottom finger profile?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your dough might also be a bit over absorbed, if additional oil and a shorter fermentation time don't work reduce the dough absorption by 5% to see how that works, remember dough absorption is ALWAYS variable.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
Is that a picture (2nd from last) of your deep-dish pizza still in the pan in which it was baked? That pan looks to be bright silver in color? Please confirm and show pictures of the OUTSIDE of the pan.
Thanks,
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

At your present 0.25% IDY level you will be just fine even if you increase the salt to 2.2%. If you want to go more than that increase the IDY to 0.3 to 0.375% and you can go as high as 3% salt.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I cannot answer that question as it is dependent upon a number of factors relating to the strength of your dough, about which I know nothing. You'll have to try them to determine if they will hold up or not. If they don't hold up you can make something else from the dough like garlic knots or bread sticks or you can add them back into fresh/new dough at up to 15% of the total new dough weight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That one will certainly work for you. I always recommend the dial/stem type since they are so much lower in cost and are easily re-calibrated.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Just get yourself a dial/stem type thermometer with a hex nut under the dial. This nut is used to calibrate the thermometer. To calibrate a thermometer: Use a low cost oral thermometer and adjust the water temperature in a glass so the temperature reads on the oral thermometer, then place the stem/dial type thermometer in the glass of water and adjust the temperature by holding the head and turning the nut until the temperature reads the same as the oral thermometer, your thermometer is now calibrated.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Don't worry too much about the flour temperature at this time, instead just concentrate on the finished dough temperature which is typically in the 75 to 80F range. If you are mixing by machine you can use this formula for calculating the dough water temperature: 145 minus flour temperature = desired water temperature for a finished dough temperature of about 80F. If you are mixing your dough by hand you will need to experiment with the water temperature.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

After the cold fermentation of the dough balls and you press the dough into the pans, you will need to experiment with how long you allow the dough to proof/rise in the pan before placing them back into the walk-in cooler. My advice is to take a few at 15-minute intervals: 15, 30, 45 and 60-minutes. Cover them or better yet, place in a wire tree rack which is covered with a large plastic bag. After about 3-hours begin testing by removing pans of proofed dough beginning with 15-minutes and going all the way to the 60-minute proofer dough. As you remove the proofed dough immediately dress and bake, then evaluate and decide which proofing time provided you with the best finished crust characteristics. Send us some pictures of the whole pizzas and also of each pizza cut in half so we can see the thickness as well as the crumb structure.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Here is a good basic dough formula that should work well for you.
Flour: (strong bread type flour with at least 12% protein content, higher protein is even better) 100%
Salt: 2%
Sugar: (variable/optional) 2%
Yeast: (CY: 1%) or (ADY: 0.5%) or (IDY: 0.375%)
Water: (variable) 62%
Oil: 2%

Use delayed oil addition mixing method.
Target finished dough temperature: 75 to 80F
Procedure:
Mix.
Scale and ball within 20-minutes.
Place in plastic dough boxes and oil top of each dough ball.
Cross-stack in the cooler until INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F.
Down-stack.
Cold ferment minimum of 24-hours, 48-hours is better.
Remove from cooler and allow the set AT room temperature until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F.
Begin opening dough balls into skins.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The dough looks fine to me, but you'tr going to need to do some work on the dough formula, for example (1/3 hot and 2/3 cold) how hot? How cold? Remember, it's not the hot and cold that matters, it's the actual temperature of the water that counts. Also, there was no mention of finished dough temperature, I always say that you cannot have effective dough management without effective temperature control. Assuming room temperature fermentation after balling so a total of 24-hours room temperature fermentation.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
With compressed yeast you should be OK using 1%, I don't think 0.5% will be sufficient.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like a cookie sheet? What does the bottom look like? If you are trying to achieve a hearth bake that's not the best option, a baking steel or stone will serve you much better.
I second the nomination to upgrade to a better "baking surface" 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
I agree with Yael that 24-hours at room temperature with your dough formula is going to be too much fermentation and result in a low pH condition of the dough which will impede crust color development. Can you follow my Dough Management Procedure and target a finished dough temperature of 75 to 80F, go directly from the mixer to the bench for scaling and balling, then box the dough balls and oil the top of each ball and then into the cooler for cross-stacking (all within 20-minutes of removing the dough from the mixer), allow the dough balls to remain cross-stacked until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F/10C and then down-stack or cover the boxes. Allow to CF for 24 to 48-hours, remove from cooler (keep boxes covered) until INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F/10C, then begin fitting the dough to the pan(s) and allow to final proof for about an hour ot whatever time is needed to give the desired finished crust height/thickness.
Baking deep dish pizzas at too high of a temperature usually results in not getting the internal crumb structure properly baked while in many cases scorching the toppings at the same time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's a lot of (ADY?) even more if it's IDY. The amount shown calculates out at 1.2% while a more typical level is 0.5 to 0.75% if it's ADY or 0.4 to 0.6% for IDY for pan style pizza. I should also add that if it's ADY it should really be hydrated and activated separately in a small container with about five times its weight of warm (100F) water. If the yeast is IDY you can just add it dry right to the flour. What is the finished dough temperature? Ideally you should be looking for something in the 80 to 85F range.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Send us some pics of that aluminum "surface" (not quite sure what you mean by that), so we can see what you have and possibly make some recommendations to help you achieve your pizza making goals.
Welcome!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I looked them up for you, they are called wooden bagel proofing boards/Bakedco.com/$8.75 each./size 18 X 26
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

They look like bagel boards, used to be made out of wood but now made from a plastic like material. Look for "bagel boards".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Once you have an active starter it is typically maintained at about the consistency of heavy cream. It's a starter, not a sponge or biga. Depending upon the characteristics of the starter, you will probably use it at something between 5 and 15% in making your pizza dough (be sure to take the water content of the starter into account when calculating the total dough absorption).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The amount of ascorbic acid added to IDY is VERY small (measured in ppm (parts per million). Its purpose is to compensate for the small amount of glutathione released from the yeast during the drying process thus giving the IDY a performance profile more like that of CY. To get the effects that were mentioned you would need to add something between 75 and 100 times as much ascorbic acid AND it would need to be a coated/encapsulated form of ascorbic acid.
No truth to what you heard.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A picture would help immensely, but lacking that it might be insufficient IDY. Are you weighing the IDY?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No problem as long as you dispose of it at the end of each day.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

With everything that has been already said, spend some time visiting with your local codes department to make sure whatever you end up doing meets with their approval, it will in the end, no matter what, so make it easy on yourself and do it the way they want it right from the start. Visiting another local store to see what they have may not always be the best idea, codes/regulations change and some cities will grandfather in stores with, let's just say a hood, which no longer meets current code, if you do what they have done it will NOT pass new code, you will not collect $200.00 and you will not be issued a permit/license. Even the type, location and size of your signage will come under the codes department and it will cost you $$$$. It will seem like everybody you meet will have their hand out and it won't be to shake your hand!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It "can" be a solution BUT the "fly in the ointment" is that by doing so it is possible to reduce the yeast level sufficiently so as to reduce the oven spring characteristics of the dough which can lead to the development of the "dreaded gum line".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Before diving head first into heat n' eat pizza I would HIGHLY encourage you to thoroughly test your concept. There is a reason why essentially all of the ready made pizzas available in the frozen foods case are made on par-baked crusts, the reason being that it is extremely difficult to heat the entire pizza (crust and toppings) properly without over doing one or the other. Added to the challenge is the vast array of different types of consumer ovens in use and you can see a problem brewing. Additionally, be sure to check on all of the state and Government regulations that you will need to abide by. For example, if you will be putting meat on your pizzas you will be USDA inspected, and have a USDA inspector on premise at all times during production (this will be at YOUR cost too). Just giving you a "heads-up".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

They certainly will spoil and possibly in a worse way than a yeast leavened dough. Flour has a relatively high possibility of being contaminated with Ecoli or Salmonella (just look at the number of recent flour recalls), without the acid and alcohol production of the yeast it is entirely possible for these, or other, organisms to eventually grow in the dough, true, baking will destroy them but not before creating havoc through cross contamination. For a refrigerated dough it's probably not a good idea to hold it more than a week due to the possibility of microbial growth and a higher than normal probability of mold growth which only takes about 4-days to colonize.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Most shops just reheat the slice right on the deck. It's common for some debris to collect on the deck surface but this is easily removed using an oven rake and brush (metal blade scraper on one side and a brush on the other side).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Now you know why I always say to lightly oil the top of each dough ball after placing it in the dough box. It keeps it from drying out during the cross-stack period and also when you're using the dough balls to make skins.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Ditch the "dough in the freezer" approach, instead either store water in the cooler or do as Amolapizza suggested. The easiest way to make your own crushed ice is to put ice cubes in a plastic bag and pound on it with a hammer or mallet, instant crushed ice!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I can't tell for sure without getting my hands into the dough but from the pictures provided, it looks like the flour might be over oxidized.
This is a very common problem with flour that is not stored in the freezer. Five gallon buckets are fine for storing flour in but it does not address the oxidation issue. Flour oxidizes naturally as it is stored and is pretty significant already at 30-days for a flour that is not treated at the mill with AA (ascorbic acid). We had some discussion on this very topic some time ago if you want to go back and research it in the archives.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You open the box and release the humidity trapped in the box, then repeat, repeat, repeat = dry dough balls. The very thin plastic film easily drapes over the individual dough balls and because it is a smaller space the moisture loss is less when the plastic is moved. It's almost like having each dough ball in its own individual plastic bag or dome as opposed to the large dough box. Dough boxes are really designed for use in pizzerias not home use.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You bet it makes the slice more crispy to put it back in the oven to re-freshen it! Putting the fresh baked pizza on/in a pan doesn't do anything to encourage a crispy crust either. It's better to place it onto a screen where it can freely steam off as opposed to a solid pan which will force the steam back into the crust. Ripple sheets also work well for this application too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The flour actually encourages the development of a dry skin or crust as it dramatically increases the surface area. I really don't like the damp towel either as it can cause the dough balls to pick up more dusting flour and make it harder to get it off, instead, try using one of those very thin, light weight plastic bags that you get from the dry cleaners, these bags are about as light as those that you get at the supermarket for your vegetables. You can split these bags open and use them too. Just drape over the dough balls to prevent drying, you can then remove just one dough ball without uncovering all of the rest.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Please explain to me how freezing a par-baked crust removes moisture from it as opposed to allowing it to set out on a rack at room temperature?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Something to keep in mind, most ovens are not specifically designed to be used with steam. Steam creates a number of issues in an oven, the greatest is that it will mix with the byproducts of yeast fermentation (acids, alcohol and carbon dioxide) which are then carried to all internal parts of the oven where they are concentrated as the moisture evaporates, these acids can/will do irreparable damage to an oven in a very short time. I realize that this is in a home setting but the damage can still occur, just making you aware of this.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

One of the manufacturer recommended methods for adding IDY is to add it to the dough after the dough has formed in the bowl. We normally don't recommend that method only because we have found that all too many times one will forget to add the yeast..Oops!
Amylase has no impact upon the dough temperature at the mixer. You should always be targeting a specific finished dough temperature that is correct for your shop conditions, equipment and dough management procedure, this might mean that you will need to use ice water, refrigerated water or possibly even ice as part of the total water weight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Be sure to provide your dough formula as well as your dough management procedure and give information on the oven that you have as well as the finger profile it is equipped with, the baking time and temperature and what you are using for a baking platform (pan, screen, disk, etc.).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Doing the easy thing first, the first thing I would do is to reduce the oven temperature to something in the 475 to 500F range and try baking the pizza a little longer (7-minutes is a good target time).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The reason for using steam in the oven for baking certain types of breads and rolls is not for heat transfer, but instead to cool the outer portion of the dough (crust portion). Since the dough is much cooler than the steam (212F/100C) you get condensation forming on the surface of the dough which both cools the dough (actually keeps it cooler for a longer time during the baking process) which prevents the crust from forming and allows for greater expansion (oven spring) during baking. The condensation on the dough also serves to keep in flexible and extensible which allows for expansion without the dough tearing or developing a break and shred.
In commercial production of par-baked crusts and buns (think of those WONDERFUL dinner rolls we'll be serving at Thanksgiving dinner) it is a common practice to use some steam injection in the oven during baking to allow the crusts and buns/rolls to be fully baked without crust color development, or at least minimal crust color development. The is because the evaporating moisture from the dough prevents the surface from reaching the 350F/176.6C necessary for color development while still allowing for a thorough bake with an internal temperature of 180 to 190F/82.2 to 87.8C. When some color development is desired the steam is used only for the first part of the baking cycle which allows the dough to dry off and reach a temperature where crust color can begin to develop.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Since "00" flours are not typically compatible with home oven baking temperatures I would suggest putting the "00" flour aside for now and using only a malted flour with about 12% protein content, then when you gat a crispier crust you can begin experimentally replacing a portion of the regular flour with your "00" flour. Allow the dough balls to CF for 48-hours. You should be OK at 500F, tell us about the stone that you are baking on, there are many iterations of baking stones and it helps to know what you are using. Also, how long do you allow the oven and stone to preheat? Where is the stone positioned in the oven? Tell us something about your oven too. What is your baking time? Lastly, when you say the crust isn't crispy, how long after removing the pizza from the oven are you making this determination?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For that small of a dough you certainly don't want to mix the dough at a slower speed. You would get better mixing action with a larger size dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm unable to access your video but if you are mixing at speed #3 on a 5-speed mixer it should be OK. specifically, what kind of mixer do you have? can you send a picture of it along with the dough agitator?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Using 500-gram dough balls you can probably pattern the dough balls 3 X 5 (15 total count) on a sheet pan. Space four plastic spicr bottles on the aheet pan between dough balls to act as a scpacer to allow for stacking another sheet pan above it. By the way, your total dough absorption is 64% (not 65%) with 1% oil.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Just how long have you had the flour which you are now using?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you are going to CF (cold ferment) it's best to take the dough directly from the mixer to the bench for scaling and balling, then directly into the fridge and leave it there for the duration of the CF time, then, if you want to do some RF (room fermentation) you can do it at that time and use the dough when that's finished. Going back and forth between CF and RF serves no useful purpose except when working with previously frozen dough, but that's a whole different story.
Keep in mind that all pizza doughs do not have to double in size, some doughs show little movement over the entire fermentation period but still make a great crust.
Putting a sufficiently large "bulk" dough in the fridge only leads to variability in the dough as only the outer portion of the dough gets sufficiently cooled to control the rate of fermentation while the core remains warm and continues to heat up and merrily ferment away, giving you two different doughs at the end. By breaking the bulk dough down into individual dough pieces and forming into balls you get smaller dough pieces with a smaller cross section which are more effectively cooler to a temperature where the fermentation rate can be effectively controlled which in turn, results in greater uniformity/consistency in dough performance.
It might be well to note that a "bulk" dough weighing less than about 2-pounds performs more like a dough ball in the fridge than a true bulk dough that weighs more than two pounds and has sufficient mass to perform like a bulk dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

T-P-D;
You've got the right approach, I'm betting you'll be enjoying some good pizzas along the way. Just remember to take notes and record temperatures along the way and take some pics to share. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We used to refer to shortening as "glue" to hold the dough in place while its in the pan.
Before anyone asks, NO, it doesn't cause the baked crust/pizza to stick in the pan.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You should be mixing at a speed sufficiently high to allow centrifugal force to pull the dough off of the agitator during the mixing process. You might go to my web site <www.doughdoctor.com> and watch my video on making dough to get an idea of how this is done.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Placing a fermented dough ball in the fridge isn't going to do much to control the rate of fermentation. The fermentation has reduced the density of the dough making it an excellent insulator which will prevent much, if any, temperature change in the critical core of the dough ball. You might see that the dough ball isn't expanding as much in the cooler but this is only due to the now colder outer portion of the dough ball exhibiting resistance to expansion, the internal core is still warm (may actually be getting warmer due to heat of metabolism) and fermenting. This is why, in commercial practice, we open over fermented dough balls into skins that are then placed on screens and stored in the cooler, by doing this we significantly reduce the cross section of the dough/dough ball thus allowing it to be more effectively cooled all the way through as opposed to just on the surface.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We got the best results between 15 and 30% masa flour to REPLACE an equal portion of the white flour. It will impact the dough absorption so be sure to do an absorption test on the masa flour first (use the same absorption test that has bee outlined for whole-wheat flour and multi-grain blends).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your mixing speed is too slow for the dough size.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Absolutely! Use Crisco or some other form of plastic shortening. If you want to use oil use the Crisco only on the side walls of the pan and use oil in the center section. To demonstrate this during our pizza seminar we used to prepare one pan with shortening and one pan with oil, then pick up both pans and invert them, plop! The dough in the oiled pan would just fall out while the dough in the pan with the shortening would stay in place. It also makes fitting the dough to the pan a lot easier too, try it, you'll see what I mean.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've seen crushed corn chips used in the dough a number of times. In each case though the reason was to provide a unique flavor to the finished crust. You can achieve exactly the same flavor using masa flour/Maseca. This is because corn chips are made from a dough containing only masa flour, water and salt. The dough is then rolled thin, cut and fried. In some cases a flavoring or powdered cheese is applied immediately after exiting the fryer. We have used it extensively in developing Tex-Mex style pizzas.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Since there is no "true" definition for AP (all purpose) flour there are significantly different versions of it from different manufacturers. Some mill it from soft wheat varieties while others mill it from hard wheat varieties. Within the group that mill it from hard wheat varieties it can range from a low of 9+% protein content to as high as almost 12% protein content. If you can, go to the web site of the manufacturer to see if you can find the protein content or try Googling (what is the protein content of XXXX all purpose flour). Let us know what you find out.
A good flour to look for that is readily available is Pillsbury Bread Flour also called Pillsbury Bread Machine Flour. This is really just the Pillsbury Superlative Flour repackaged in a consumer size package. It has approximately 12.6% protein content and it constitutes an excellent all around/general purpose pizza flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
One other thing, I see in your photos that the conveyor chain is carboned up quite a bit, when was the last time you pulled the conveyor for a thorough cleaning and cleaned out the finger sleeves? Do you have a top and bottom finger map attached to your oven?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
Based on cost alone, I would suggest increasing the sugar content rather than the malt, but if you want to increase the malt you can do so as long as the dough doesn't become overly sticky.
Let's talk ovens; Your oven specifically. It's an air impingement oven, who is the manufacturer of the oven? Gas or electric? Did you buy it new or used? What are the top and bottom finger profiles? It concerns me that you are baking your pizzas so long and not achieving decent color even with malt and 4% sugar in the dough formula. In my air impingement ovens I used to get plenty of color even at 3-days CF with just 2% sugar. It's an uphill battle if you try to fix an oven problem with dough formulation.
Can you show a picture of the crust that you said is now all white?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

120 to 180 is a very high Lintner Value. I would suggest reducing the amount added to 0.05% of the flour weight and carefully working up from there if you can.
We have had some discussion on Malt and Lintner value fairly recently, a quick search will allow you to learn more about this important aspect of the malt products that we use in pizza making.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Frying donuts at such a low temperature will result in a dry and oily finished donut. Yeast raised donuts typically have a shelf life of 4 to 6-hours (without additives), frying at a low temperature will further reduce this.
The corn starch is indeed a part of the powdered sugar, there is 3 to 5% corn starch in powdered sugar. The sugar used to make powdered sugar is dextrose, not sucrose.
There is no way to tell if putting a pot of water in with the dough would help at all as there would be very little evaporation from a "pot".
Maybe wet towels?
You want to have a hygrometer to measure the humidity in the air. This is easy to make, use two stem/dial type thermometers, two Styrofoam cups and a piece of paper hand towel. Put one thermometer through both sides of a cup (this will be the dry bulb). Push the other thermometer through the other cup about 2-inches up from the bottom of the cup. Add a few ounces of water to the cup (water should be at or close to the air temperature in the box), now, wet a strip of the paper towel, wrap it around the stem of         the thermometer allowing the two ends to drape down into the water, place both thermometers in the product zine in the box. After an hour, or so, read the temperature from both thermometers (the one with the wet towel is the "wet bulb" reading, the other one is the dry bulb reading. If you've done it correctly, the wet bulb reading will ALWAYS be the cooler of the two readings (due to evaporative cooling of the stem from the wet towel). Now get a RELATIVE HUMIDITY CHART (you can download one from the Internet), find your temperatures on the two axis lines and where they meet the number will be the relative humidity in the box. For donuts you want about 70% for most other things you want to have something around 85%.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Sounds more like a "thing" to me. Trying to achieve a certain appearance.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Strange that the one thing you did not mention at all was dough temperature. As you've already discovered, fermentation has a huge impact upon the dough and temperature is the driver of fermentation, it's a variable that we seldom ever control or even monitor. If you have any data on your dough temperature as well as the temperature during the various stages of your dough management you should be able to plug those numbers back into the dough to see if that improves things, lacking that, you may need to begin experimenting with your dough (while keeping records of the dough and room temperature) to how temperature is impacting your dough. From your comment on the excessive elasticity I'm guessing that your bread machine might be getting the dough too warm, easy to check this out the next time you make dough. I'm guessing that you should be looking for a finished dough temperature (off of the bread machine) around 70 to 75F. That's a neat trick for most bread machines which is why I got rid of ours years ago.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

75 to 80F is much too cold for hydrating and activating the ADY in, I suggest using 95 to 100F water.
Degree L is the Lintner Value use for measuring the diastatic activity of the malt. Too much of the wrong malt will result in wet, sticky doughs.
I really wouldn't call 55F as CF as most people think of CF being done at a refrigerated temperature in the 35 to 40F range. I mention this because if the process calls for CF and you are doing it at 55F your dough will receive significantly more fermentation than anticipated.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Oil and shortening both weigh the same so if you are asking how much oil to use when replacing the shortening the answer is: Use the same weight of oil as you do shortening. If you want flavor use POMACE GRADE OLIVE OIL as opposed to EVOO, you could also just use lard, trans free and if you use NON-DEODORIZED LARD it'll add a great flavor. Keep in mind that if you use oil it is recommended that you use the delayed oil addition method of dough mixing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Fermentation is indeed the key to achieving s great flavored finished crust. How much fermentation is a question that only you can answer as it will be dependent upon the fermentation tolerance of your flour, the dough absorption, the amount of yeast being used and the temperature of the dough during the time it's being managed and then we also have to add baking. Lots of variables there! Without knowing anything about what you are doing here is what it's going to take;
1) Weigh all ingredients.
2) Measure the temperature of the water, flour, room and finished dough temperature.
3) Know how long the dough is being mixed so you can replicate it.
4) When you are using a multi-stage dough management procedure as you are be sure to record the time between each step and if applicable, the dough temperature.
5) Record everything and keep good notes.
By doing this, when you get something that you really like you will know exactly what you did and you will be able to retrace your steps to get to that place again. It will also allow you to look for short cuts to that sweet spot without losing track of knowing exactly where you are at in your dough making process.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I have a couple of questions:
1) What is "DCL Active"?
2) Diastatic malt: What degree L is it? Is this a dry malt powder or a syrup?
3) Have you tried making a dough with less dough absorption? I'd suggest dropping back 5% on the absorption.
4) I did net see where you are activating the ADY in 95 to 100F water prior to addition to the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

My recommendation is to wash the screens but DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO SOAK IN SOAPY WATER, rinse well, towel dry and then force dry in the oven. After that, coat with salad oil and place back in the oven at 425F. and allow to bake for 20 to 30-minutes. You might need to repeat this a couple of times. At first you will see an amber colored finish beginning for form, this is the seasoning, after the initial seasoning you will not need to do it again. With continued use the screens will continue to darken in color and eventually become almost black in color (this is what you are looking for) DO NOT bake on an unseasoned screen, if you do the screen and dough will stick together. Once seasoned, NEVER EVER, EVER soak anything that has been seasoned in water!! This will cause the seasoning to come off like a bad sunburn. We have discussed how to season and clean seasoned pans a number of time here.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I think the first thing I would do is is to shelve the volumetric portions and get a scale so I could weigh my ingredients and then pick up a dial/stem type thermometer. This will allow you to accurately weigh each of your ingredients and measure dough temperature at the various stages of your processing allowing you to zero in on achieving the results you're looking for without the need of using the old pasta on the wall methodology.
If you can provide us with you "recipe" and dough management procedure we might see something that would help us in providing you with a good starting point to get the open crumb structure you're looking for.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Pizza dough is made from a pretty basic dough formula such as:
Flour: 100%
Salt: 2%
Yeast (CY): 1%
Water: 62% (variable)

In this case sugar and oil are optional ingredients used for specific purposes such as making a more tender eating crust or providing for more crust color or nutrient for the yeast.

To the above formula add 4% oil and you have a great deep-dish/thick crust formula.
Use the formula as shown to make a basic thin crust dough.
Increase the water to 68% for a New York style pizza.
You can also make a somewhat Neo. style pizza by increasing the absorption to 75%
If you want to make a basic pizza that will emulate those made by the big box stores just make the dough with 2% oil and 2% sugar and you can get pretty close by manipulating the dough management procedure.

It's when we begin making specialized types of pizzas that we really need to have more specific dough formulas for the pizza being made. If you want to make a more traditional Neo. type of pizza you will need to reduce the yeast level substantially and manage the dough in a very different manner for the desired outcome. Most American style pizzas are not very complex at all and most seem to fall within pretty close formulation parameters, even the dough management procedures for American style pizzas do not vary all that much which explains why they tend to be so similar regardless of the name on the store front.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When you put the salt into the dough water the dough comes together a bit faster in the bowl during the mixing process as a result of the salt tightening the gluten as it is being formed. When salt is added as a dry ingredient it can take a minute or so longer for the dough to come together forming a cohesive dough. In home pizza making this is not an important issue but in a commercial setting, be it a pizzeria or a commissary, this can be very important in determining how the dough is mixed.
Because the dough becomes tighter in the presence of salt it receives more mixing action sooner during the dough mixing process thus developing gluten at a somewhat faster rate. The premise to this is that firm/tight/stiff doughs tend to develop gluten at a faster rate than very slack doughs.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

AntonioT;
That's a classical example of what I always tell perspective new pizzeria operators; "You don't have a vote in the type of pizza you will make, your customer will dictate that, your job will be to make that pizza and put the money in the bank".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Two things that you can do;
1) Some brands of non-frozen mozzarella cheese will turn tough and chewy when frozen, so you might try freezing your cheese for a week or two prior to use to see if your cheese is one of those brands.
2) Open your cheese and re-wrap it in Saran Wrap/stretch wrap and store it in the fridge for about 6-weeks before using it. This allows the cheese to dessicate, resulting in a much chewier cheese after baking on the pizza.

Many of the older cheeses were never frozen, just refrigerated and when the pizzeria operators stored the cheese in the freezer or held it too long in the cooler it gave the chewy characteristic. Today most shops do not want the chewy characteristic as it poses too much of a potential choking hazard.

Now, if by "chewy" you actually mean "stretchy", take a look at provolone cheese as it tends to be more stringy than mozzarella.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I was just there last Sunday delivering a motorcycle!
Welcome aboard!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The one thing that I find absolutely AMAZING about air impingement ovens is just how few operators know anything about them! They really don't have a clue as to how they bake, how the fingers work or the importance of the finger profile, or even what kind of different fingers are available for their specific oven. This observation doesn't necessarily stop at the owner/operator either, it also flows back to the oven manufactures too. I personally, have been very critical of this for a good number of years now and I can say that there are some of the manufacturers who are very good at working with their customers to find the best finger profile for their client's pizzas but there are still some out there who insist upon selling you an oven with a generic, one size fits all, finger profile which may or may not work the best.

When you toss in used ovens you are opening a Pandora's Box if you don't know EXACTLY what the top and bottom finger profiles are. Air impingement ovens are just that, they are "OVENS", nothing more, nothing less, they can be profiled to bake many different food items from seafood, cookies, bagels, and even pet foods, it all depends upon how the oven fingers are profiled. When these ovens turn up on the used equipment market they are sold as, you guessed it, PIZZA OVENS! It sure looks like a pizza oven, so it must be one...right!!

Deck ovens are not as prone to these issues, they are pretty straightforward to operate with only the baking temperature being a variable BUT don't forget that this can also pose problems too, these ovens can last a long time and over time the temperature management systems will fail and need replacement, I see this frequently. Then too, going back to the used equipment market place, all deck ovens are NOT pizza ovens! There are some deck ovens, especially those with steel decks, that were built for use in a small bakery or restaurant for baking bread and pastry items, not pizza. These ovens have smaller burners than those ovens built as a pizza oven so they will bake a few pizzas but lack the ability to retain baking properties under a continuous load. For good measure let's also look at electric deck ovens, especially those getting "long in the tooth", I've seen my share of these ovens from different manufacturers that just wouldn't bake a decent pizza because the heating elements were failing, so based on this alone, one might assume that electric deck ovens are not the best for baking pizzas either.

It's easy to draw the wrong conclusions when we don't have all the facts.
A number of years ago I wrote an in-depth article on the different types of ovens for either Pizza Today or PMQ, I don't remember anymore which one it was, but maybe Peter can work his magic and find a link to the article if anyone is interested. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
Yes, there is an "emergency" dough procedure buy I don't recommend its use as you have outlined as it is too different from your regular production dough. Instead, it is intended to be used in situations where all of your regular dough has been lost, forcing you to close the store, in this case the emergency dough will allow you to remain open. We always tell our clients to manage their dough in such a manner so as to have carry-over dough at the end of the day which can be used on the following day. Let's say your best day of the week is 100 pizzas, you always have an inventory of 15% greater than this on each night of the week and when you make dough make just enough to rebuild your dough inventory back to the 100 + 15% (115). This is where an Effective Dough Management program is worth its weight in gold in a commercial operation as it allows you to use your dough over a 2 to 3-day period and never toss out any dough unless it hits the floor. Sales/dough projections and dough management are critical aspects of operating a pizzeria.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For all practical purposes, fermentation begins as soon as the dough begins to mix and ends with the cessation of oven spring when the dough temperature reaches the thermal death point of the yeast (approximately 137F). Keep in mind that when discussing dough management total fermentation time includes both the dough fermentation and dough proofing times. Dough proofing is the time allowed for the dough to rise after shaping, for example a deep-dish pizza dough might be fermented for 24-hours, and then shaped and placed into the pan and allowed to proof for an additional 60-minutes before dressing and baking. If a dough is fermented in bulk or as a dough ball it doesn't matter, it's still referred to as the "fermentation" period. When cold fermenting, the time that we allow for the dough balls to warm up after removal from the fridge is not counted as fermentation or proofing time since the dough is too cold to ferment very much during this relatively short period of time, this is ASSUMING that the dough is being allowed to temper to the 50 to 60F range before opening, dressing and baking.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

And to add a few logs to the fire;
What was the finished (mixed dough temperature?
You said the dough was wet, did you leave the containers open until the internal dough ball temperature reached 50F?
After removing the dough balls from the fridge you only need to wait for the INTERNAL dough ball temperature to reach 55 to 60F before opening them into skins....4-hours was wwaayy too long.
You will also want to get a scale so you can begin weighing your ingredients, this will also allow you to put your dough "recipe" based on volumetric portions, into a dough formula, based on ingredient weights which can then be expressed in bakers percent to make evaluation of the dough formula much easier. By weighing your ingredients you will have significantly better consistency in dough performance too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Amolapizza;
That's an EXCELLENT video! Shows correct dough development with the spiral mixer and also shows effects of biochemical gluten development.
Thank you for making it and sharing it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Not at all, it sounds like you might be making a fairly low absorption (50's %) range dough.
Rom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's how you tell the "good guys" from the "bad guys" in the old western movies too, the good guys are always wearing white hats.   
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The sooner you can freeze the dough balls after mixing the better the finished results will be. The procedure that I developed for commercial frozen dough balls is as follows:
1) Slack-out (defrost) dough balls in the fridge for 12-hours.
2) Remove from fridge and allow to set at room temperature until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50 to 55F (pick a temperature).
3) Place back into the fridge to CF for 24-hours.
4) Remove from fridge and allow to set at room temperature until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 60F.
5) Begin opening the dough balls into skins for immediate use.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It appears that the top of the pizza still needs a lot of work which is beyond the dough, or is that a par-baked crust which has been dressed and ready to go into the oven?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The photo (12 of 16) showing four pan different black colored steel pan options shows what appear to be very similar to your existing pans, the second one from the right and the last one (#4) from the right. Get a few in the sizes that you need and give them a try.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Start out at 62% absorption again and adjust if necessary, don't ever be afraid to adjust the dough absorption, flour is rather variable when it comes to absorption, especially the Caputo flours.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It's perfectly safe to eat yeast just as it is (in moderation). I know individuals who actually eat raw yeast believing that it's good for them. I don't know about that, but they're healthy. For me, I'll take a pass on the raw yeast and consume it after it has been allowed to do its work in fermenting the dough and getting killed during the baking process (much more tasty that way). In any case, there is noting to fear in eating raw yeast in moderation or any amount of spent yeast in baked dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The one caveat is that you want to leave enough water/moisture in the mushrooms to prevent them from burning during baking of the pizza. Remember, mushrooms are approximately 90% water by weight. I've seen pizzas made where the mushrooms were too low in moisture content going onto the pizza and after baking the mushrooms were all but black.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Has your starter been stored under refrigeration since you started it? Most starters do not perform well at refrigerated temperatures but if you have kept the starter at refrigerated temperature the micro-flora present in the starter has adapted and will continue to flourish under those conditions whereas if you have stored it at ambient temperature (whatever that might be) it will not fare as well when held under refrigerated temperature (40F +/-).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The deep-dish pans have plenty of color on the outside bottom, but the other pans don't and that could be a contributing factor to your long baking time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I personally don't know of any manufacturers still using galvanizing, instead they are all using TIN PLATE which is very different from galvanizing, with none of the safety issues either.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You should not need to adjust the dough absorption seasonally, ditto for the yeast level but only if you are managing the dough correctly, by this I mean targeting a specific finished dough temperature (70F/21.1C is a good starting point) and maintaining that temperature for all of your doughs.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The aluminum pans get discolored due to a reaction between the alkali in the soap and the aluminum. This is especially bad with raw/bare aluminum pans. Anodized aluminum has the protective anodizing so the problem isn't as bad until the anodizing is worn off and considering the pan will be used for table service that might happen sooner than later. Steel pans are galvanized to protect from rusting so they don't suffer the same fate but over time rusting could be a potential issue.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It looks like pictures of two different types of pans, deep-dish pans and what appear to be similar to what we call a "cutter" pan (40 degree sloped sides). The cutter pans from what you sent are bright on the outside bottom, they should be dark colored like the inside of the pan. The deep-dish are well seasoned on the inside but there doesn't appear to be a picture of the outside bottom so I can't tell.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I might be a bit concerned about using sugar or malt at the high baking temperature employed here, but it's always worth a try.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Absolutely! The amount of actual ascorbic acid used is only 30 to 120 ppm (parts per million) based on total flour weight. When we use it in tablet form each tablet (about the diameter of a dime and 1/4-inch thick) provides 30-ppm, the rest of it is filler too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I couldn't agree with you more
My "go to" flour for making pizza is 12.2% protein content on average.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

While the bricks will be a bit hotter than the air above the bricks the main reason for what you saw was due to the type of heat transfer taking place. Conduction due to direct contact with the hot object allows for very rapid heat transfer, convection due to contact with the air is a pretty poor heat transfer mechanism. This is why even though a commercial deck oven might be baking pizzas at 525F we can safely reach into the over without getting burned, just DON'T touch anything in the oven! When you bake those cookies on a raised rack above the bricks you changer the type of baking from conduction to convection.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

While both whole-wheat and semolina flour are indeed included in the dough absorption equation they must be calculated separately from the regular white flour. This has been discussed along with a procedure on how to do it previously here, a quick search through the archive will take you to it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

As a point of interest, those pics above look just like what we were demonstrating to our students, additionally, you see in the pics what appears to be darker/less translucent areas within the dough sheet, those areas are referred to as the "gluten web structure" or just "web structure". This is important to know as it is an indication of gluten development, the finer the web structure, the better/greater the gluten development. Both pics show EXCELLENT and very complete gluten development.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

One thing to be aware of is that while ascorbic acid is indeed the same as vitamin-C the forms used in a dough to act as a "dough improver" are NOT the same. The form of AA used in dough conditioners or as a dough conditioner is either fat encapsulated or micro-crystalline encapsulated to slow/delay its reaction in the dough. Ascorbic acid reacts very fast unless treated in this manner thus significantly reducing its benefit as a dough strengthener. When added at the flour mill (this is the AA that you see shown on the flour bag) it is added to rapidly oxidize the flour so it it not treated/encapsulated. This is important as it improves the baking properties of the flour. When flour is not properly oxidized after milling it is referred to as "green" flour. Before the advent of ADA and AA the bakers used to store their flour for 30-days or more to allow for normal oxidation to take place....not very practical anymore to say the least! This natural oxidation also explains why flour that is milled towards the end of a crop year tends to show stronger characteristics than new crop year flour (wheat berries, not just flour will naturally oxidize), and it also explains why if we, at home, store flour at room temperature can find that for some strange, unexplained reason the flour seems to becomes stronger, now you know why, natural oxidation is the answer.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
No, if it did you would have dehydrated mushrooms. You are just reducing the moisture content. In commercial applications we use moisture controlled vegetable toppings with excellent results. The DiGiorno brand of frozen pizzas utilize the moisture controlled IQF (individual quick frozen) toppings. They retain color and texture much better than fresh toppings making them especially well suited to use in frozen pizzas.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Due to their high sugar content cookies will burn, especially when placed directly on the stone just about every time they see temperatures above the 350 to 400F mark. If you look at the bottom of most cookies you will see that the bottom is a bit darker than the rest of the cookie except for the rim which is sometimes also dark due to lateral heat penetration. To bake cookies with balanced color it is common to remove the cookies from the oven before they are fully baked they are then allowed to cool on the baking sheets during which time the cookies finish baking from the latent heat stored in the baking sheet. Point is, cookies are a poor test media for a pizza oven, the one thing you did learn from the test though is that while the bricks remained hot the air in the oven did not as the top and bottom color were different. Remember too that the crown height and shape in an oven has a huge impact upon how that oven will bake different products.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What you have is pretty standard for a NP pizza.
A couple of things you might try are as follows:
1) Brush the edge with oil immediately prior to baking.
2) If you can "dome" the pizza in your oven this might also help.
3) As soon as the bottom of the pizza is baked place a screen under the pizza to allow for a longer baking time.
4) Change direction and make a New Haven style pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I would begin my search by looking right here, over the years we have had a lot of discussion on different types of flour that can be used to make pizza. While typical bread flours are appropriate for making pizza the reverse cannot be said for making all types of breads. Pastry flours are a totally different animal as they are generally made from soft wheat varieties which form a much softer/weaker gluten structure necessary for the tender eating characteristics associated with pastries. Then there are cake flours. There are two basic types of cake flours, high ratio cake flour for use in cake formulations where the sugar is greater than the flour. These flours are chlorinated AKA chlorinated cake flour. The other cake flour is for cake formulas where the sugar is equal to or less than the flour AKA low ratio cakes. Low ratio cake flours are typically the same as a pastry flour but are usually milled to a finer particle size, however for home use an all-purpose flour will work just fine for making low ration cakes. Then there is whole-wheat flour, when it's made from hard red winter wheat or spring wheat varieties it is known as whole-wheat flour and it is commonly used in breads, rolls, buns, pizzas either in total or in part. When the whole-wheat flour is made from varieties of soft wheat flour it is known as "graham" flour. Yes, graham crackers are made from whole-wheat flour and it is used in pastries, cookies, and just about any other type of baked product not requiring a lot of strength/gluten. On top of this, there are hard red wheat varieties where the wheat berry is a dark mahogany to brown in color, the color is due to tannin which gives the wheat a somewhat bitter taste, then there are hard white wheat varieties (only type of wheat grown in Australia) which is growing in popularity here in the U.S. due to its                              greater acceptance as a whole-wheat flour owing to its reduced tannin content making the flour less bitter tasting, lastly, you have spring and winter wheat varieties. Due to the different climatic conditions/geographic regions that the wheat is grown in some areas grow winter wheat which is planted in the fall and harvested in the following summer. In colder regions the wheat is planted in the early spring and harvested in the early fall to late summer, this is known as spring wheat. Typically, spring wheat varieties will have a higher protein content than winter wheat varieties but they will perform equally on an equal protein basis. That's it in a nutshell, now you can read up on the finer details to learn more about each.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Wow! Dough conditioners, there are sooooo many different kinds of them. Some make the dough softer and more extensible, some make it tighter and less extensible, some make it feel drier, some make it stronger and then there are the enzyme based dough conditioners and the non-enzyme based conditioners. Whatever else is also in that bag of flour that you've got aside from "wheat flour" by law, has to be shown on the bag label. In the past we used to see potassium bromate added to the flour as a flour improver, not a dough conditioner but due to health concerns we don't see it used nearly as often as we used to. We still see a lot of ascorbic acid being used as a flour improver so it's pretty common to see it on the label. Then too we used to see Maturox on the bag label too (azodicarbonamide) but even that has fallen from favor in the past few years. Many flours are malted so malted barley flour will often be seen on the bag label however that is now being replaced by the addition of amylose enzymes to the flour, so now we often just see "enzymes" listed on the label. Then there is the standard flour enrichment declaration that most flours will have as many states require that all flour sold in their state be enriched to Federal standards. Whole-wheat/whole-grain flours are exempt from this requirement since non whole-wheat flours are enriched to the same vitamin and mineral content as whole-wheat flour. Today, for the most part, the only difference between white flour and whole-wheat flour is the bran/fiber content contained in the whole-wheat flour.
One other thing, because there are so many different kinds of dough conditioners with different functions a dough conditioner is never randomly added to any flour, it is added only to address a very specific issue associated with the dough. I used to tell my students to think of dough conditioners as medicine for the dough. You have to know what's ailing the dough before you can prescribe a medicine (dough conditioner) to address the problem. When working in Mexico back in the 70's I used to bring an assortment of different functioning dough conditioners with me. To facilitate handling the ones I brought with me were all in tablet or gelatin capsule form and once I knew what the issues were with the dough it was easy for me to select the correct dough conditioner and add it to the dough, these became known as "aspirina para la masa" (aspirin for the dough) and since I was the one giving them out I became known as the "El medico para la masa" Literally translated: The Dough Doctor, the title stuck.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

With those conditions water stored in the walk-in over night would be a good place to start.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I make egg plant lasagna frequently so why not pizza? I've not done it, but it sounds interesting with lots of opportunity to experiment.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj1;
Your temperature is OK but the baking time is much too long. I'm betting the problem is with your pans being too light in color, can you send a picture of your pans so we can see what the bottom and outside look like? A more typical baking time would be 6.5 to 7-minutes max. This will probably correct the cheese issue too. If it doesn't the top finger profile will most likely need to be changed to something flowing less air.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm betting that you didn't bake it at a temperature north of 800F. That's what it takes to bake a pizza made with Caputo 00 without any added sugar or diastatic malt in the dough formula.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Assuming you would be static freezing the dough (0 to -15F) with little to no airflow, you can freeze the dough with a projected frozen shelf life (use it or lose it) of about 10-days. For anything longer than that you will need to go with blast freezing (-25 to -38F with airflow of 600 to 800 linear feet per minute or cryogenic freezing (liquid carbon dioxide or nitrogen) with pressure adjusted to give -45 to -55F in the product zone plus a holding freezer at -15F to allow the frozen product to equilibrate to a core temperature of 0 to +15F within 90-minutes of exiting the cryogenic freezer.
Vacuum packaging is NOT recommended due to the potential for clostridium growth.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The diastatic malt (450-grams for $6.75) is the one to use.They don't appear to provide any information on the L-value so I would suggest starting out at 0.25% and going up from there if necessary.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I like to think of foccacia like a bread, where you have to allow the dough to proof/rise in the pan before baking.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

IR thermometers are fine for all but the internal dough ball temperature measurements, for that I recommend a low cost dial/stem type thermometer. Make sure it has a hex nut under the head/dial, this is the adjustment nut that is used to calibrate the thermometer.
To calibrate, use an oral thermometer available from any pharmacy at low cost, adjust the water temperature to get a temperature reading on the oral thermometer, note the temperature, place the stem of the dial thermometer in the glass of water holding the oral thermometer, note the temperature shown on the dial, if necessary adjust the temperature so it reads the same as the oral thermometer, now you're good to go.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When you open the door of a home oven and place a pizza in the oven, don't kid yourself, the oven takes a BIG hit and the burner is not designed for rapid recovery, instead, it's designed to be economical and have a 20 Energy Star rating. Commercial ovens can have a burner with a greater BTU capacity then most home furnaces and they are designed so as not to lose very much air/temperature when opening the door, plus they have a lot more thermal mass than a few bricks.
I'm betting that your pizza will take close to twice as long to bake in your home oven.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Get the specifications for the diastatic malt that is available to you and let us see it, we can then direct you on its use. Typically, you will be looking for a 20 degree Lintner Value dry malt powder, if you can get it it will be used at 0.25% of the flour weight. The only change to the dough formula will be to adjust the sugar content to 2%. The dry malt is just added right on top of the flour with no special handling.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you are using the cheese from refrigerated storage (required by law as it is a food safety issue) the season of the year will not make a difference. Another trick to help control color development on the cheese is to mist the top of the pizza with water. Having an air impingement oven and with the issues you are having with the vegetable pizzas and your cheese getting excessive color I'm also guessing that the top fingers are not correctly profiled for YOUR pizzas. What is the baking time and baking temperature you are using and what is your baking platform (pan, screen, disk and what color is it)?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you saute the vegetables you will not have any of the problems you mentioned. Also, be sure to LIGHTLY brush the skin with a little oil before dressing it, this will help to retard the migration of moisture into the crust as it is being baked. This is an application where air impingement ovens really shine as they are very effective at removing moisture from the top of the pizza if the top fingers are properly configured. If you have a deck oven you can also bake at a lower temperature (450F/232C) to help dry off the top of the pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

My preference is for the AND /A&D Weighing scales, <www.andweighing.com> Their scales are about bullet proof, accurate and best of all they operate on common flashlight batteries.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your oven temperature is very low for baking pizza, 350 to 375 is better suited for baking cakes. Added to that, if the oven is not FULLY up to temperature it would really be difficult to get a decent bake on a pizza as the act of putting a pizza in the oven as well as baking will further drop the temperature creating a double "whammy" for you. My advice is to adjust the oven temperature up to 500F, allow at least 90-minutes for the oven to fully heat and stabilize in temperature and then bake, I think this will give you a much better bake if you are using a dark colored pan as an added plus, you won't need to wait so long for your pizza to come out of the oven so you'll be eating pizza sooner. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Raj;
Your dough formula shows "yeast cake" at 0.5%, not 1 to 1.5%.
Also, the flour bag does not indicate any malting or use of enzymes, hence it is an unmalted flour. The only thing it has is some added enrichment.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When you say "larger" I don't know how large you mean but I've made pizzas up to 20" in diameter on my wood peels, that was also the largest diameter wood peel we had at the time, if we had a larger one I'd have used it too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It seems to be a love/hate relationship, some people love them, others hate them. My own personal preference is for a good wood peel.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Gene has a good idea there, try covering the box with a damp towel and then cover with the plastic wrap, I don't like the idea of spraying water in the box. Water + flour = GLUE (wallpaper paste).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I always let it rise in the pan before baking. What do you mean by "others will TIP the focaccia"? Did you mean "top"? I always allow the dough to rise in the pan before topping as this prevents any possibility of moisture migration into the dough during the proofing period.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If your flour weight is 12.5Kg/12500 here is what your ingredient weight should be for the percentages you cited.
Flour: 100%
Sugar:500-grams
Salt: 187.5-grams
Oil: 125-grams
Yeast cake/compressed yeast: 62.5-grams
Water: 7000-grams

Please note that all of these do not align with your numbers based on 12500-grams of flour weight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It appears that the dough box might be too big for the size and count of the dough balls that you are using.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Just for the record, I'm not a big fan of composite peels, they tend to be overly heavy for their size and the dough tends to stick to them. I'll take a good wood peel every time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

High dough absorption, well fermented dough baked at 850F+ and hand formed.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Using your spiral mixer I really think you can just add all of the ingredients to the mixer at the same time (including the poolish) and begin mixing, this will result in better mixing action which will result in a shorter mixing time. Use cold water (at least 60F) and shoot for a finished dough temperature of 75 to 80F. Regarding the 15-minute cross-stack time, this is not nearly enough time to accomplish anything, instead allow the dough balls to remain cross stacked until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50 or 55F (pick one), then down-stack and kiss the dough good night. Note: Be sure to lightly oil the top of the dough balls to prevent excessive drying of the dough during the cross-stack period.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I don't know how much you are referring to when you say that your dough "shrinks back" when peeling the dough into the oven but there are two things than can be done, one is to ensure the dough has been properly fermented (insufficiently fermented dough has a greater tendency to exhibit memory characteristics) and to open the dough up to a slightly larger diameter that what you are targeting with the knowledge that the dough will shrink back to the target diameter as you peel it into the oven. Additionally, during the baking process you can expect the pizza to contract by something between 1/4 and 1/2-inch in diameter.
Other things which can/will impact the way the dough handles on the peel:
Dough temperature (warm dough tends to be more problematic)
How thin the skin is (very thin skins are more problematic)
Amount and viscosity of the sauce used. (heavy sauce application and thin sauce viscosity tend to be more problematic)
Length of time needed to assemble/dress the pizza/skin. The longer it takes the greater the propensity for the dough to stick)
Type of peel being used. (In my experience wood peels are easier to use and more forgiving)
Failure to shake the skin on the peel during and after building the pizza can result in the dough sticking to the peel.
Just some ideas for consideration.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We just returned from vacation in Park Rapids, Minnesota and while we were there we visited Linda's Recycled Goods, 807 West 1st. Street, Park Rapids MN. 56470/ Tel: 218-252-3949/ Cell: 218-252-5005/ Linda and Richard Anderson (owners). In their back room they have a lot of different size deep-dish pizza pans. I bought a dozen individual size deep dish pans for just $2.00 each. The pans range in condition from very good to like new. If any of our members in Minnesota are located close to Park Rapids and you are interested in getting some (what appear to be Pizza Hut) individual size deep-dish pans, this is a good opportunity pick some up and look at other pans which they also have.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

92F is much too hot for your dough. What was the temperature of the water that you were using to make the dough with? Also, please tell us about the formulation, age and amount of poolish you used.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Since N.Y style pizzas are typically baked at a lower temperature than NP style pizzas you could bake the NP pizzas first and then bake the N.Y. style pizzas in the cooler oven.
As for the water question, Soft water is not preferred for making dough and R.O water is even less preferred. This is because of the beneficial effects of the minerals in hard water on the dough and fermentation. If you do a search through the archives you will find quite a bit of of discussion on hard v/s soft water in making dough.
You also mention multi-grain and whole-grain doughs, again, we had some excellent discussion on that topic not too long ago where I gave the procedure for finding the correct dough absorption and dough making process for there sometimes difficult to make doughs. Done correctly they will make great pizzas but done incorrectly whole-grain and multi-grain pizzas are many time described with words like cardboard, leaves and twigs, etc.
If you are planning to use your wine room as opposed to a refrigerator for cold fermentation you will need to reduce the yeast amount and you may not get the same flavor profile in the finished crusts as you would at the lower temperatures.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The amount of "old" dough that can be added is highly variable depending upon the formulation and age of the old dough so the amount added will be application specific. When we studied this many years ago we found that, for the most part, we could add 15% (based on the total fresh dough weight) old dough without significantly impacting the performance of the new dough, so in your case the amount added will be something greater than 15%. I would suggest starting with 20% old dough addition and going up in 10% increments (30%, 40%, 50%, etc.) from there. Because the amount of old dough is being calculated on a "true %" basis (based on total dough weight as opposed to bakers percent) no other dough changes are generally needed. The end result is similar to that of using a biga or a "sponge" in making a dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Not knowing anything about the strength of your sourdough starter, I'd start at 5% and go up in 5% increments. For a "true" sourdough no yeast is used, plus typically a sourdough doesn't play well at refrigerated temperatures so you might want to think about 12 or 24-hours at room temperature for starters.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If using compressed yeast use 1%.
No change in water temperature is needed.
When I'm making N.Y. style pizza at home I like to use All Trumps Flour (14+% protein content).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Use a little flour or oil on your hands to remove the dough from the bowl, then use a plastic bowl scraper to scrape the dough up for the folding process, after a few folds it will become noticeably easier to manage, don't be afraid to use a little dusting flour too to help get things started. Remember, you're making dough, not rocket fuel or nitro glycerin 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Different types of pizzas have different identifying characteristics and water/dough absorption is a tool that we use to achieve some of those characteristics. Higher absorption = a softer, more fluid dough that will exhibit more oven spring during the baking process while lower absorption will tend to inhibit oven spring. I'm not sure if all of this is covered in the function of ingredients that we have here but do take a look. We're always happy to expand on any questions which you might have.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yeast is NOT an oxygen scavenger, it produces carbon dioxide during fermentation which will displace a small portion of the oxygen/air in the dough. In an anaerobic environment ascorbic acid is indeed a dough reducer but to get the reducing effect you need to mix the dough under a vaccum using a Tweedy mixer. Forget what you read as it does not apply here. Just go ahead and make your dough as you normally do.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What was the flour weight in your dough formula, need it to determine the IDY percentage.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Agreed. I do see at the 2 0-clock position, slightly in from the edge an area of dough collapse resulting from insufficient bake time.
Next time try par-baking the crusts with 1/2 of the sauce on them and you will get a better finished crust.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What you are looking at is a pasta flour made from a variety of durum wheat, not the best choice for making pizza. The gluten that is formed from durum flour is vastly different (it has little extensibility) from that of wheat flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

His two favorite words: You're fired!!! I didn't include the common adjectives he included with the phrase for obvious reasons.
Sorry Donald, he beat you to the phrase.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yep, 3-hours RT fermentation is just OK for bread but it sure doesn't cut it for pizza. Reduce the IDY to 0.4% and CF for at least 48-hours. I've posted my Dough Management Procedure here a number of time if you need a procedure to start with (a quick trip through the archives will bring it up). I would do this with my regular flour first, and then begin introducing other flours in 10% replacement increments up to 30%. This will allow you to assess the many different options across their typical use level and hopefully find something that you like while having fun experimenting at the same time. Just remember to keep good records (times and temperatures are important to record in your notes).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Do the crusts look normal immediately when coming out of the oven? If so the issue is due to collapse resulting from insufficient bake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I was working for him at one time, once was enough!!!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

One other thing, vacuum packaging is NOT recommended for dough or finished product due to the potential for clostridium. MAP is what everyone uses.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, a yeast spike is added AFTER the poolish, the idea is to have some yeast in the dough that has not been allowed to ferment (it will have a better survival than yeast that has been allowed to ferment). Even the best frozen dough manufacturers only get 21 to 23-weeks of frozen shelf life from their dough. To get that kind of shelf life you will need to blast freeze the dough at -30 to -37F with 600 to 800-linear feet of airflow over the product, or you will need to use a cryogenic freezer (liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide) with pressure adjusted to give a temperature in the product zone of -50 to -65F, then package and immediately place into a holding freezer at -15F to finish freezing. After 2-hours in the holding freezer the internal dough ball/puck temperature is measured, if it is -15F the time in the cryogenic freezer is correct, if the temperature is higher than -15F the time in the cryogenic freezer will need to be extended and if the temperature is lower than -15F the time in the cryogenic freezer will need to be reduced (as a matter of economics). Date loggers are placed with shipments of frozen dough to monitor dough temperature (temperature abuse is a major cause of dough failure) during distribution.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The question that begs to be asked is, what does your "tasteless" crust dough formula look like?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Don't forget that the Celeste brand frozen pizza is made using a fried crust, it was the topic of a huge and long running legal law suit between Pillsbury and Jeno Palucci which finally ended in 1985 when Jeno sold out to Pillsbury. At one time it was estimated that legal expenses  were about 10-million dollars a year for that suit and anyone even thinking of frying a piece of dough was targeted in the suit too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I like all three, but my preference is for the Marsal oven, thicker decking and lots of BTU's make for great ability to continually load and unload pizzas without any difference in bake. Just don't buy into the story line about not needing to rotate the pizzas in the oven, I've never found that to be true for any deck oven with a door! NOTE: Their gas decks come with an internal gas regulator already installed, DO NOT install another gas regulator.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There are thin crispy pizzas and there are cracker type pizzas. What you appear to be looking for is a thin crispy type aka Chicago style thin crust pizza. You really don't need to go very far back into the archives here to find discussion and some very good pictures of this type of pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Boy! It would sure be nice to be able to see your dough formulation as well as your dough management procedure on this one, inconsistency with the dough is really hard to nail down without knowing exactly what you are doing. Remember, T.M.I. is not an issue so be sure to include all times and temperatures when outlining your dough management procedure.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

An Edge oven would be a very good place to begin looking at an oven to bake your heavily laden pizzas. Air impingement ovens are, by far, the best suited ovens to bake that kind of pizza. Your dough formula looks to be pretty typical so I see no issues there. You can get any kind of bake you want from an air impingement oven BUT the oven MUST have the finger profile properly configured for YOUR specific product. Edge has always been good at working with their customers to make sure the oven they are buying is properly profiled so work with them, to get the bake you want. Additionally, there are a host of different baking platforms for use in air impingement ovens so if you don't get the bake you want on one platform be sure to try some of the others. NOTE: In case you're wondering, a "baking platform" is a screen, pan or disk used to carry the pizza through the oven. Just make sure whatever you use is either seasoned to a dark color or has a black/dark gray anodized finish.
In the event that you are not satisfied with the air impingement oven there are always conveyor deck ovens to be considered, they are significantly more expensive, but they are a viable option.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you can live with a maximum frozen shelf life of 15-days what you are proposing doing is totally feasible (assuming you are going to be freezing the dough in a static freezer). Why only 15-days? It has been well documented that yeast which has been subjected to any amount of fermentation does not fare well when frozen in any kind of freezer, much less a static freezer (-10 to 0F with little to no airflow), this results in the potential for significant yeast damage as a result of being frozen which, in turn, leads to dough failure. We do know that the dough will perform reasonably well out to about 15-days but after that it's a crap shoot as to whether it will perform to customer's expectations or not and when we are selling dough you have to remember that FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION. I would recommend using a yeast spike in the dough (addition of 0.2% IDY when making the dough) then mix the dough as cold as possible (under 70F if at all possible) then immediately go to scaling and balling. Allow the dough balls to rest for 5-minutes then flatten into "pucks" about 1 to 1.5-inches thick, lightly oil, place on aluminum sheet pans that have been stored in the cooler, place the dough pucks on the sheet pans and immediately take to the freezer, freeze uncovered for at least 3-hours, then while in the freezer, package the dough pucks in plastic bread type bags (1.5-mil. thickness) being sure to pull the bag snug to the dough puck, twist the open end into a pony tail and apply a twist tie close to the dough puck, place the pony tail under the puck as you package the dough for sale. Note: This is all done in the freezer to prevent condensation from forming on the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Well...it all depends upon what you mean by "better". You can add non-deodorized lard for a different flavor, and I like to use bacon "drippings" for a different flavor too. A lot of people like to use Butter Flavored Crisco or Blue Bonnet Margarine (Chicago) but that's still a butter flavor.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Two things I'd do, increase the dough absorption to at least 68% (possibly more) and decrease the individual dough ball weight to achieve a dough loading of 0.079646-ounces per square inch of surface area for the skin size you are opening the dough to. If you want to continue using the same dough absorption and dough weight you will need to drop the baking temperature to 500F.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Generally, an AP flour works well in this application. (10.5 to 11.2% protein content)
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What I'm seeing is a dense crumb structure with the top crust lifted away from the crumb portion. Do the actual slices reflect that observation?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Are you saying the dough was "cold fermented" at 61F?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It appears that the crust might have been baked at too high of a temperature for the weight of the skin but to cover more
bases, please tell us about your dough management procedure (everything you do with/to the dough from the time its mixed until you open the dough into a skin and dress it for baking.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You would want to use 0.5% ADY to replace the 0.375% IDY. Don't forget to suspend the ADY in a small portion of the dough water adjusted to 95-100F and allow it to activate for 10-minutes before adding it to the dough water in the mixing bowl. If using the commercial dough boxes: scale, ball, place dough balls into dough box, lightly oil the top of each dough ball, place in cooler (UNCOVERED) until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F, then lid the box. Note: The dough must be scaled, balled boxed and in the cooler within 20-minutes of removing the dough from the mixer. The dough should be cold fermented for a minimum of 24 hours (48-hours is better). To use the dough, remove from the cooler (leave the box lidded) and allow the dough to temper AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F, the dough is then ready to begin opening into skins for immediate use. The dough balls will remain good to use for up to 2,5 to 3-hours, just remember to KEEP THE BOX LIDDED after removing a dough ball.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What the picture shows is a thin crust skin which was formed on a sheet and die cut production line. Typically the dough has a moderate dough absorption of about 56%, it is NOT fermented, but instead used a reducing agent such as dead yeast (RS-190) or L-cysteine (PZ-44) to achieve the necessary extensibility for efficient processing. After mixing to a smooth, cohesive dough consistency (75F) the dough is taken to the automated sheeting line where it is deposited onto the production line and then reduced to approximately 3/16-inch in thickness by means of a series of reduction rolls or more likely than not, a cross roller, a single reduction roll and then a satellite multi-roller reduction roll followed by a single gauge roll then a docking roller and a die cutter.After that it's off to a blast freezer where it is frozen to +15F in about 20-minutes, then it exits into a temperature and humidity controlled room for packaging, bulk packing, palleting pallet wrapping and into a holding freezer (-10 to -15F) for 18 to 24-hours prior to shipping to a distributor.
Wanna make it at home?
Flour: 100% (12 to 12.8% protein content)
Salt: 2%
Sugar: 2%
IDY: 0.6%
Oil: 2%
PZ-44: 2%
Water: 56% (variable)

Procedure:
Mix to a smooth, cohesive dough consistency.
Scale
Ball
Allow to rest at room temperature for 10-minutes.
Roll out to 3/16-inch in thickness.
Dock the dough.
Place the dough on a 12" diameter pizza screen and trim off excess dough.
Leave the dough on the screen and place in a freezer for 1-hour.
Transfer the frozen skin to a pizza circle and wrap for frozen storage (will keep for up to 15-days).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

As a general rule, make no other changes, just reduce or eliminate the sugar, if you still want/need more bake time after that reduce the oven temperature slightly (15 to 25F). This will allow more time for the top of the pizza to finish baking while reducing bottom bake color.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I agree 
A thin crust is one thing and usually not much of an issue but my reference was for a thick, scaly crust (bad enough that you might be able to strike a match on) and usually only occurs when the dough was not covered for an extended period of time. I suppose if one was at high altitude or in a dry desert environment you could achieve the type of crust I was referring to in less time? But I too would question only 2-hours.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In most all pizzerias the dough is just mixed until it's smooth, the dough is then scaled, balled and placed into dough boxes for cold fermentation. Cross-stacked about 2-hours (50 to 55F) internal dough ball temperature, then down-stacked and kissed good night. On the following day the dough is removed from the cooler and allowed to warm to 50F (internal dough ball temperature) before opening into skins. The dough is good to use for about a 3-hour period by this method.
No other handling of the dough is required. There is a huge difference between a K5A and a 60 or 80-quart commercial planetary mixer.
If you go to my web site <doughdoctor.com> you will be able to watch my dough making video to see how a pizzeria makes their dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Dry, crusted dough is insoluble in the dough. You will most likely be reminded of it again when you go to open the dough balls into skins. How bad it will be remains to be seen.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Here is my N.Y. Dough formulation.
Flour: 100%
Salt: 1.75%
Oil: 2%
IDY: 0.375%
Water: 63% (variable) / (60F)

Targeted finished dough temperature: 75 to 80F

Mix Just until the dough becomes smooth.
Scale and ball.
Lightly oil dough ball.
Place in plastic bread type bag, twist open end into a pony tail and tuck under the dough ball as you place it in the fridge.
Cold ferment 24 to 48-hours (48-is better).
Remove from fridge and allow dough ball to warm to 55F internal temperature, then turn out of the bag onto a flour dusted surface.
Open into a pizza skin by your preferred method.
Dress and bake on a stone or steel.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There should be no need to add any additional malt just for the durum semolina flour as "hopefully" you are not planning to use it at 100%. Ideally, it should not be used at more than 25% of the total flour (3-parts regular flour + 1- part durum semolina flour).  That is unless you want the finished crust to go in direct competition with the likes of Good Year, Firestone, Uniroyal, Cooper and a host of other tire manufacturers.....it'll be that tough and chewy soon after baking.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Be sure to avail yourself of the services and guidance available from the Think Tank at <www.pmq.com>, the TT is visited mostly by operators.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A different/unique flavor that can only be achieved through the use of a sourdough starter that has been properly managed, which is a whole 'nother story.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Enzymes are used at very low levels but the flour still functions as a malted flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Ricko;
The answer is ABSOLUTELY,POSITIVELY YES! That is unless you have a favorite beneficiary on your life insurance policy that you would like to toss a few bucks their way. Clostridium is nothing to mess with, it's DEADLY, and it doesn't take much to accomplish the evil deed.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

As a "newbie" Which I assume you are, I would encourage you to begin your pizza making endeavors using a more traditional flour for your first pizza making excursions. Something like Pillsbury Bread/Bread Maker Flour or KABF would be a good starting point, these flours are quite forgiving and will allow you to better develop your skills while building your confidence, then in a short time you can transition to your Caputo flour.
Just a suggestion.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A lot will depend upon the environment in which you are proofing the dough and for how long. When you open the dough into relatively flat circle you significantly reduce the cross section dimension while at the same time increasing the surface area, both of which will allow the dough to be more responsive to (influenced by) the temperature in which it is placed so if the dough is 85F as a ball and the room is 70F the ball will retain its temperature much better than the opened dough which will quickly cool to the 70F room temperature and since temperature is the number one driver of fermentation the lower temperature will result in a slower rate of fermentation. If several hours are involved there is also heat of metabolism that has to be considered too. As the dough ferments it will warm due to heat of metabolism from the yeast feeding. This will warm the dough at the rate of approximately 1F per hour. The flattened dough piece will also experience this same heating BUT due to the reduced cross section and greater surface area it is much less able to retain this heat so its impact upon the rate of fermentation is significantly lessened.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you are re-balling the dough just 1.5-hours prior to opening the dough into a skin I'm betting that you are also experiencing issues with opening the dough too? You should find that the dough opens easiest when you just remove it from the fermentation container and drop it into some dusting flour and immediately proceed to begin opening the dough.
By the way, after removing the dough ball from the fridge you only need to allow it to warm AT (not to) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches the 50 to 60F/9.9 to 15.5C range. Depending upon your proficiency at opening the dough you may find it easier to open the dough at the cooler side of the temperature range.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There can be, but any issues are essentially eliminated by lightly oiling the top of each dough ball as it is placed into the box and effectively cross-stacking (leaving uncovered) until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F before down-stacking/lidding the box(es).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Some of the Lloyd's disks are not intended for use in any type of deck oven. Only those that are fully perforated across their entire diameter will work in a deck oven without warping. The others are intended for use in air impingement ovens.
When going to the 16" diameter pizzas you might try reducing the dough absorption in 2% increments until you find that you can easily work with the dough without it sticking, then, as you gain confidence and proficiency begin gradually increasing the dough absorption. Remember, that dough absorption is ALWAYS going to be somewhat of a variable since it is tied to the absorption properties of the flour which is variable/not consistent.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Another thing to consider is the dough weight (assuming no sugar in the dough formulation). If the skin is too thin/light weight for the diameter you will have a harder time getting to bottom to bake properly than if you have a slightly greater dough weight. The next time you make pizzas make a couple of dough balls 1-ounce heavier and a couple 2-ounces heavier (open them all to the same diameter) bake the pizzas to desired bottom color.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It ain't necessarily what you've got that counts, it's what you do with it that matters most, so you have the dough formula, as well as the flour down pat, the question now is how are you managing the dough (that's where the "rubber meets the road"). You can use the same dough formula but manage it differently and get different finished product characteristics. Please be specific as TMI is seldom an issue here just so long as it's pertinent to the topic.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You might also try leaving the cover off of the container until the dough reaches 50F, then covering. This will allow the dough to be more tolerant to variations in finished dough temperature as well as slight differences in refrigeration temperature thus diminishing the likely hood developing an over fermented dough condition. This approach has been discussed any number of times here where it is referred to as "cross-stacking and down-stacking".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Forgot to add one more thing, how tight or loose you're rounding the dough balls.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your question is impossible to answer without knowing more about your dough balls. As a rule, we use up to 10-ounces in the 3" depth, 11 to 14-ounces in the 4" depth and anything over 14-ounces in the 6" depth. Keep in mind though that dough balls will rise differently in the box depending upon dough temperature, how well you're managing your dough, yeast level and dough absorption.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Agreed, a N.Y. style dough formula:
Flour: 100% (12.2 to 12.8% protein content/strong bread type flour)
Salt:2%
Sugar: 1%
Oil: 2%
IDY: 0.375%
Water: 65%/variable (65F)

Mix/scale & ball/cross-stack to 50F/down-stack/CF for 48-hours/remove from cooler and allow to warm to 55F internal ball temperature/open into skins by hand/dress/ bake at 700F.
This should provide you with a starting point for achieving your goal.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Remember, there's a learning experience in every mistake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It's nothing to worry about.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Not knowing what your dough formula is I cannot say if adding sugar will impart a sweet taste to the crust, but keep this in mind; you will not get a detectable sweet taste in the finished crust until the sugar (sucrose) level is 4% or more. With that said, the addition of sugar will result in the entire crust developing more color and at a faster rate on both the top and the bottom. The problem you're experiencing is most likely due to the high crown in your grill which does not provide sufficient top heat directly to the pizza as it's baking. An application of oil to the top of the dough not covered by the toppings might help a bit. You might also try brushing it with whole milk too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Mine is a very high priced cake pan with a plastic lid that I got at a very exclusive store called Walmart. I have about 2-cups of my dusting flour in the pan and I so do all of the dough ball dusting in/over the pan (makes less of a mess), when I'm finished I just snap the lid back on the pan and put it away until the next time I need it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What you propose should work OK, just remember that whole-wheat flour has a higher absorption than your regular white flour (about 70% in most cases) and like semolina flour it is slower to hydrate than white flour. This means that in this case an autolyze/soaker might be of benefit as it will allow time for the whole-wheat and semolina flour to properly hydrate. Just in case you're wondering, the whole-wheat flour is slow to hydrate due to the presence of bran particles in the flour and the semolina flour is slow to hydrate due to its large particle size. Additionally, semolina flour can be made from hard wheat varieties or it can be made from durum wheat varieties, it's important to know what it was made from as if it was made from a durum variety you might want to limit its use to something under 25% of the total flour blend. It will contribute to crispiness but it will also contribute to toughness aka chewiness in the finished crust as it cools.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Sure, not a problem saving it. If you were to ask 20 people what they use for a dusting flour you would probably get a minimum of 25 answers  there are that many different opinions. Wheat flour, rice flour, corn flour, fine corn meal, semolina flour and wheat bran are all used both alone and in various combinations. My own personal favorites are fine corn meal as well as a blend of equal parts fine corn meal + semolina flour + regular white flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you do a quick search you should find some of the previous discussions we've had here on the topic, there is actually quite a bit to bulk fermenting prior to balling.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Looks GREAT!!!! 
I also like to add some shredded Parmesan cheese to it too, but that's just me.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Depending upon the flour strength, amount of yeast used, proficiency at temperature control I would, with trepidation, say yes for home pizza making only. Try to keep the time the dough is frozen as short as possible. Keep in mind that you may need to be re-balling the dough at some point.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A little bit but not all that bad for the flour you're using. I would recommend reducing the total dough absorption to 62%. Remember that dough absorption is ALWAYS variable, especially with "00" flours.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It's easy to convert from bakers percent to weight measures.
First thing to do is to decide either how much flour you want to use or how much dough you want to make.
If you know how much flour you want to use :
Using your calculator, enter the flour weight then press "X" and enter the ingredient percent that you want to find the weight for, now press "%" and read the answer in the display window. Remember, your ingredient weights will be expressed in the SAME weight measures that the flour weight was expressed in (pounds, ounces, grams, kilograms, etc.).

If you know how much dough you want to make:
First find the sum of all of the bakers percents in your dough formula (it will usually be something between 165 and 175%), now divide this number by 100 (move decimal place two places to the left.
Using your calculator, enter the total dough weight that you want to make then press the division sign and enter the sum divided by 100 and press "=" and read the flour weight needed to make your new dough weight in the display window. Once you have the flour weight follow the above (first) procedure for finding the individual ingredient weights.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The amount of diastatic malt FLOUR added to wheat flour is variable depending upon the amylose activity of the flour being malted. Flour in the U.S. is typically malted to a Falling Number of 200 to 250. As a general rule you can get close to this by adding 0.25% of a 20-L diastatic malt powder to an unmalted flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Pan Pizza Dough formulation:
Flour: 96%
VWG: 4%
Salt: 2%
Sugar: 2%
Shortening: 4%
IDY: 0.4% or ADY: 0.5% or CY: 1%
Water: 65%/variable  (65F)

Mix dough just until it takes on a smooth appearance.
Target finished temperature: 75 to 80F.
Take to bench and scale (8.75-ounces/variable) and ball.
Lightly oil dough balls and CF for 24-hours.
Remove from cooler and allow to temper AT (NOT TO) room temperature for 2-hours.
Use a rolling pin or pastry pin to GENTLY open the dough to fit the pan.
Place the opened dough into a greased or oiled dark colored deep-dish pan.
Allow to proof for approximately 45-minutes (exact time will need to be determined by experimentation)
Dress as desired and bake at 450F.

Thin Crust Pizza Dough:
Flour: 95%
VWG: 5%
IDY: 0.4% or ADY: 0.5% or CY: 1%
Salt: 2%
Sugar: 2% (optional)
Oil: 2%
Water: 65%/variable  (65F)

Mix until dough JUST comes smooth.
Target finished dough temp: 75 to 80F.
Take directly to the bench and scale at 2-ounces (for a 9" skin) and form into balls.
Lightly oil the dough balls and CF for 48-hours.
After CF remove from cooler and allow to temper AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F.
Open into skins by your preferred method.
Dress and bake.

NOTE: A good way to CF the dough balls is to place each one into an individual plastic bag, twist the open end to form a pony tail and tuck the tail under the dough ball as you place it in the cooler.

Garlic breadsticks can be made using either dough by opening the ball to about 12-mm in thickness, forming into a rectangle shape and cutting into strips about 20-mm wide. Transfer cut strips to a greased baking pan and allow to proof for 30-minutes, then bake at 450F. As soon as breadsticks come out of the oven brush generously with a commercial garlic butter or make your own by combining butter with commercial garlic powder. then sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and serve.

I'm not exactly what you mean by "stuffed garlic bread" please describe.

Subway Bread/Hoagie Buns:
Flour: 95%
VWG: 5%
Salt: 2%
IDY: 1% or ADY: 1.5% or CY: 3%
Shortening: 6%
Sugar: 4%
Water: 58%/variable  (65F)

Mix the dough to a smooth consistency plus an additional 5-minutes (this will be variable depending upon the characteristics of your local flour).
Target finished temp: 80 to 85F.
Take dough directly to the bench, scale into 7-ounce pieces, form into balls, cover with a sheet of plastic and allow to rest for 20-minutes.
Using your hands, roll each dough ball into a hot dog shape (lightly dampen your hands with water if necessary) about 7-inches long.
Place formed dough piece onto a baking paper lined or lightly greased sheet pan with dough pieces spaced 2 to 3-inches apart.
Cover to prevent drying and allow to final proof for 45 to 60-minutes. You will need to experiment to determine the time best suited to your specific conditions.
Using a VERY SHARP SERRATED knife or razor blade cut 3 to 4-diagonal cuts (about 2-mm deep) across the top of each dough piece.
Spray with water and bake at 425F.

Note: If the finished buns are too flat reduce the water, if you want more spread increase the water (absorption).
This type of buns is typically not fermented, Subway uses frozen dough which is not fermented either.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The total formula sum of bakers percent is 168.15 divided by 100 = 1.6815
You want to make two dough balls each weighing 29.5-ounces = 59-ounces + 2-ounces for bowl loss = 61-ounces of dough will be needed.
Divide 61 by 1.6815 = 35.68-ounces of flour needed X 28.4 = 1013.38-grams of flour.
Ain't math great?!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Why not just make a typical N.Y. dough formula such as:
Flour: 100% (Pillsbury Bread/Bread Machine Flour which is widely available at supermarkets at a very reasonable cost)
Salt: 1.75%
IDY: 0.4%
Sugar: 2% (optional)
Oil: 2%
Water: 62% (65F)
Target finished dough temp: 75 to 80F

Make it as you do your regular dough and cold ferment for a minimum of 24-hours (48-is better).
Scale into 19.5-ounce dough balls, oil each dough ball, drop into individual plastic bags (like bread bags), twist the open end into a pony tail and tuck it under the dough ball as you place it into the fridge to CF.
To use, just roll bag down around the dough ball and invert over a flour dusted surface or a bowl of flour.
Flour dough ball and open into a skin by your preferred method.
If you don't want to make pizza you can always make a calzone, or brush the skin with melted butter and then sprinkle generously with a cinnamon-sugar mixture and bake. After cooling drizzle with a sugar-water icing or cut into strips and dip in the powdered sugar-water icing (you might recognize these as "Dipin' Sticks"), or just dock it well and bake at 400F as a flat bread.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

amolapizza;
You are not alone in your confusion. All too often we find that to many in the in all but the wholesale baking industry malt is just malt, some don't even realize that there is a difference (diastatic v/s nondiastatic) and well as a difference in Lintner Value. We see this happening here from time to time too. When you toss in dry v/s liquid confusion reigns supreme. This is why it's always important to identify the exact type of malt product we're using or referencing in a dough formulation. Remember my story about the New Hampshire bagel producer that mistakenly got the wrong (diastatic) malt product that literally shut down their production lines. Malt is an ingredient that has different applications in different industries which is why there are so many variants and making it important to identify specifically which product is being used or referenced. To the home baker it may not be a "big deal" if the wrong product is used since we are dealing with small amounts of dough but to a large scale producer, beginning with a pizzeria and going up from there it becomes a "very big deal" if the wrong malt product is used.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The old stand-by is to put the water in first, then the flour and dry ingredients and mix just until you don't see any dry flout in the bowl, add the oil and continue mixing (at a higher speed if possible) just until the dough takes on a smooth appearance. At that point the dough is sufficiently mixed, the dough might feel a little tacky but not sticky. Finished dough temperature should be in the 75 to 80F range when mixing is completed.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I think your fermentation of the dough prior to scaling and balling is contributing to the problem. Try this, reduce the IDY by 50%, adjust the water temperature to give you a finished dough temperature of 75 to 80F,  then immediately after mixing the dough scale and ball it, place in UN-OILED dough box, lightly oil the top and sides of each dough ball (use canola oil), allow box to remain UNCOVERED for 2.5-hours, then cover/lid the box and allow to CF for 24-hours. Remove dough box from cooler (keep it covered) and allow the dough balls to temper AT (not to) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 55F. Then remove dough ball from box and begin opening the balls into skins by your preferred method. The dough balls may deflate a little but not completely and they should open into skins pretty easily, there should be an improvement in oven spring which will promote crispiness in the finished crust.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Oil is a tenderizer so adding 2% might help.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Please tell us something about your fridge, maybe a picture?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For me personally, I'd have gone with 0.05% IDY for what you were doing. It sounds like you are mixing the dough by hand so all you really need to do is to mix it sufficiently to have a cohesive dough and let biochemical gluten development take care of the rest of it for you. One other thing: When mixing the dough by hand it is highly recommended that the IDY be hydrated in a small portion of the dough water (tempered to 95 to 100F), just put the IDY into a small container of water and stir to hydrate the yeast making a uniform yeast suspension, you can then add the IDY suspension directly into the remainder of the dough water in the mixing bowl.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Try removing the dough from the plate and re-ball it, then place it in the fridge to relax for several hours, it should be relaxed sufficiently for use by dinner time. Let us know how this works out for you.
Tall us about your oven too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

This is what happens when one tries to cross reference terms from two different disciplines (brewing and baking) as many times the same word or expression has significantly different meanings. For example, the words "Do you have worms?" has an entirely different connentation to a fisherman than it might have to a doctor.
In the baking industry the word "malt" has a much more limited meaning and to some extent application, than it has in the brewing industry. In the baking industry barley is the primary source of malt and this is required, by law, to be stated on a bag of "malted wheat flour". In the baking industry malt is used either as nondiastatic (powder or liquid) as a source of sugar (maltose) for flavor and/or crust color development or as diastatic for the amylolytic conversion of a portion of the starch (primarily damaged starch) to sugar (maltose) as a yeast nutrient. Additionally, some research has shown that that a reduction of starch can contribute to a softer crumb structure in the finished product resulting in a potential improvement in perceived freshness of some bakery products.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Wow! That's a lot of ADY considering that most people probably use not more than 0.5 to 0.75% at the very most. 1 to 1.5% ADY would be more in line with a no-time/emergency dough that would be ready to go in about 2-hours after mixing.
But in the end, if it gives you the flavor profile that YOU want, I cannot argue with you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It's hard to beat fermentation and all of its nifty by-products for flavor. Malt, either to hydrolize a portion of the starch to support long fermentation times or to provide a level of flavor by itself is a big part of the total flavor picture too. Note: This is based on the assumption that one likes the "fermentation" flavor, I know that not everyone does.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Unless you have a way to actually measure the pH and TTA (titratable acidity) of the sourdough starter you have no idea of what it actually is, that's one of the issues with sourdough starters, you never know for sure exactly what you have so it is not uncommon to have to experiment to determine the amount needed to achieve the desired results.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've literally hand cut thousands of dough balls and I still continue to weigh each one. In our pizza class we used to show our students how to speed up the hand cutting process by forming the dough into a rope and cutting the dough to length, use a scale to establish the length needed for the weight that you want, then begin cutting to length (length = weight). The best that I was EVER ABLE TO MANAGE was 7-consecutive pieces all within 1/4-ounce (that's 7-grams) of each other. Use a scale, it's a lot more accurate and consistent!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In all probability it was the problem. I'm guessing that it was either too strong for your flour or you used too much. I'd suggest making it again but use only half as much of the SD starter, if the dough performs better you'll know you're on the right track to solving the problem.
Being able to see your dough formula and procedure would also be very helpful too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That, my friend, would be a very safe assumption  . My ability to weld stainless steel, and access to the necessary equipment, along with my understanding of fermentation and access to malt (it was a certified bakery ingredient) made me a very popular person during my time over there. Almost got caught on two different occasions, would not have been a pleasant outcome. I used to say that the best kept secret was what we were making in those brew tanks (we used to call them liquid ferments).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I was working in the Aramco Bakery training the entire bakery staff from production to maintenance and sanitation. I was living at Steinekie Hall (spelling?) Except for the meals that I had at the bakery I used to eat at the Dining Hall (my good friend Hind Leithead) was in charge of Dining Services for Aramco, her husband was Head of Airport Operations. I was the second to the last contractor to leave the country when they nationalized in 1980. Later, I served again as a consultant when the Saudi's built the frozen dough/pizza plant in Riyadh. I was at the Latif Bakery a number of times but I never paid much attention to their breads for the reasons mentioned above. I've still got pictures of me riding motorcycles on the desert and skiing on the sand dunes and a whole bunch of stories!!!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

They're like rocks at a stone quarry, not terribly difficult to find.
Lots of previous discussion on peels too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Mr. Peel or American Metal Craft are some options.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

My preference is to tear the cheese as opposed to slicing it, this gives a thin edge to the cheese allowing for more of the transition that you mention.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Hey! I was in Dhahran for 3-years, went to Khobar many times, just a hop, skip and a jump away.
Small world!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you are trying to get that "pizzeria" flavor (not sure what that really is) you might try some of the following;
1) Reduce the honey to 2% of the total flour weight (325-grams).
2) Adjust IDY to 0.374%
3) Scale and ball the dough immediately after mixing.
4) Targeted finished dough temperature is 75 to 80F.
5) Lightly oil the dough balls and place into individual plastic bread type bags (NOT ZipLock Bags), twist the open end to form a pony tail and tuck under the dough ball as you place it into the fridge.
6) Cold ferment for 48-hours (this is how many pizzerias manage their dough).
7) Remove dough from fridge and allow to warm AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50 to 55F, then roll the bag down around the dough ball and invert over a flour dusted part of your work surface.
8) Flour both sides of the dough ball and open into a skin for immediate use.
Let us know if this moves you closer.
Also keep in mind that loss of smell is a possible indication of C-19 (smell is a BIG part of the flavor equation)  :-D. Unless you have a control/target crust to evaluate against it is indeed possible to lose all ability to distinguish changes in taste or aroma/flavor.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

65% absorption seems a bit on the low side for a dough made with 25% whole-wheat flour. What did the crumb structure look like? Was the dough slightly sticky or tacky when it was opened into a skin? If it wasn't the absorption was too low.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Finished dough temperature?
Type of dry yeast?
Dough ball weight?
Pizza size?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Because the potassium iodate was found to interfere with some medical tests. The AMA asked the baking industry if it was possible to eliminate the use of iodate for this reason and the baking industry did as requested. Wanna know what replaced potassium iodate?
Answer: ADA/Azodicarbonamide. I was the one who did all of that work.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, a thinner dough skin or crust does not always relate to a crispier finished crust.
Rather than going through a whole litany of things that can be done to provide for a crispier finished crust it would help if you could share with us your dough formula, dough management procedure and also tell us about your oven and how you are baking your pizzas.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

They are due to either excessive drying of the dough ball (depending upon how the dough balls are stored it can be limited to a small area or a large area of the dough ball) or it might be dusting flour adhering to the dough ball (pretty common).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Actually, California doesn't ban it they just require that any product which contains it be labeled with with the warning that this product contains potassium bromate, a known carcinogen and may cause cancer in some individuals (or something to that effect), yum, yum, I think I'll have another helping! Because of this and the fact that none of the chain stores or food manufacturers want the publicity associated with the use of bromate no one uses it in California and distributors don't carry it for that reason. Now, in Canada it's a different story as its use is officially/legally banned there.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

HansB;
I'm putting my money on a meteor over bromate!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Elchimi;
Since there is a readily available effective substitute for it it's really not all that commonly used anymore. It is used in some flours (at a very low level) due to demand for it in some markets. So, why don't the flour millers add the new bromate replacers to the flour? The answer is because none of them that I'm aware of are designed for stand alone addition to flour so for that specific application there is still not a suitable direct replacement.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It does serve a functional purpose in flour where long fermentation times are the order of the day. Do I think bromated flour is necessary? No, not in view of the fact that we have some excellent performing enzymatic oxidants that serve as a replacement for it. Do I go out of my way to avoid it? No. Is it really necessary in pizza production? When bromate came under scrutiny many years ago we looked at just how important bromate was in pizza production. We found that as long as one had access to high protein flours capable of forming strong gluten with good fermentation tolerance it was not needed at all so in my humble opinion the use and necessity of bromate in pizza dough is a moot issue, in white pan bread and many variety breads of commercial manufacture it is a totally different story but again we now have some excellent performing bromate substitutes (as previously mentioned) so even in bread production it's a moot issue. it's certainly not like back in the 50's and 60's where bromate was being used at the outrageous levels of up to 75-ppm. One of my technicians once described the flavor of bread when made with bromate levels this high as "tasting like a swimming pool"
and he was correct in his assessment.If you are old enough to have ever had continuous mixed bread aka batter whipped bread back as late as the 60's you have been exposed to these high levels of bromate.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Actually bromate is converted to bromide (a non-carcinogen) during the baking process and it wasn't until the 1970's that the Japanese developed a method for detecting bromate in PPB (parts per billion), it was then discovered, that in some cases bromate was a residual in some breads but it was only measured in PPB where as previously it could only be measured in PPM (parts per million) so it was then considered unsafe. When you look at the big picture of things that are carcinogens it is safer to eat bread made with bromated flour (not to exceed 15-PPM potassium bromate) than it is to breathe the air in most major cities. And then you have the issue of nitrates, and trans fats and don't forget acrylamides, the list just goes on and on. My personal advice is "Don't be stupid and drink from the bromate bottle, use moderation and enjoy life!"
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Non-diastatic malt is a non-active (no enzyme activity) form of malt. It is used for both its unique flavor and as a source of sugar for crust color development. Unlike diastatic malt, you can go quite high with non-diastatic levels without creating significant dough handling problems (stickiness). Most bagel manufacturers use non-diastatic malt as they can use it for both flavor and color without developing the stickiness associated with diastatic malt. A number of years ago I had to make an emergency trip to up-state New Hampshire to visit a wholesale bagel manufacturing facility that was having a problem with the dough sticking to their bagel forming belts and nearly shutting down production. First thing I asked was "Are you using diastatic malt?" The answer was, "No, we use non-diastatic malt syrup". They confirmed that the malt syrup was indeed non-diastatic. When I got to the plant late that day I went directly to the ingredient scaling room and sure enough, the label on the 55-gallon drum said "DIASTATIC MALT SYRUP"!. So why did they answer "no" to my question? It seems that they checked their formula sheet, not what they were actually using....Oops! Yes, the wrong product was shipped to them by their supplier. I called the supplier and got the non-diastatic malt delivery started while we cleaned up the mess out on the production floor, a short time later we had the NON-DIASTATIC malt syrup and production resumed with no further issues. Lessons learned that day:
1) Always check ingredient name and product code number against your order manifest at the time of delivery.
2) When someone asks a question about an ingredient being used don't just look at the formula sheet, look to see what is actually being used.
3) Bagels are made from a pretty simple and basic formulation, the malt syrup was the only ingredient where a simple mix-up could result in disaster, they should have been aware of that and gone directly to the #1 suspect to begin their own investigation. A little education goes a long ways.
4) The lesson that I learned, NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING, that's been well known for a very long time but sometimes we need a reminder.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Maybe your flour is already malted either through the addition of diastatic malt or enzymes (alpha amylase)? The bag will tell the story if the flour is malted/treated with enzymes or not. Additionally, flours that are high in starch damage do not fare well at all in the presence of any amount of diastatic malt or alpha amylase.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Let me hear an "AMEN" to that!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Many of us here have the KD-8000 and I've not heard any complaints about it yet, at least none that I can recall. One of the best things about the scale is that it operates on regular flashlight batteries, I've had mine for years now and use it all the time and it's still operating on the original batteries supplied with the scale!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Like many things, a little diastatic malt can be a good thing if your flour is not already malted but too much of a good thing can really mess things up. A recommended use level for 20L diastatic malt is 0.25% based on the total flour weight....use more only if you dare. It the diastatic malt that you are using has a higher L (Lintner) value like maybe 60L  you would use only 1/3 as much.
No, flour manufacturers don't post anything about the flour absorption properties. The actual dough absorption used in making pizza doughs will vary with the following:
1) Type of pizza being made.
2) Dough making process.
3) Finished dough temperature.
4) Type of dough management employed and fermentation time/temperature.
5) Individual's proficiency/skill at opening the dough into a skin.
6) The type of oven to be used.
It is impossible for the flour manufacturer to know all of these parameters so any recommendation for dough absorption would be a total guess. If you want a S.W.A.G. here's mine for a starting point only:
Thin crispy & cracker type doughs: 50%
American style pizza doughs: 60%
Wood fired oven doughs: 65%
Neapolitan style doughs: 70+%

Like I said, this is just a S.W.A.G. as the final absorption will depend upon any number of factors including the absorption properties of the flour being used.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Since your experimental program calls for assessing the impact of the various processing steps I would suggest that you begin with a a dough formula that you have confidence in for producing a decent pizza, it sounds like you might already have that.
Then begin by making your pizza a number of times to assess its "standard deviation" if you will. You will need to do this several times to reduce the "human" factor in the variables.  In essence, you are now producing a CONSISTENT pizza, regardless of quality, it MUST be consistent. If you don't do this you will never know if a change in quality characteristic was due to your normal variability or if it was due to the experimental variable.
With this done you are now ready to actually begin your experimenting. Select the variable that you want to test, let's say baking temperature. Prepare the dough by your standardized formula and procedure with the only experimental variable being the baking temperature (note: you will also need to adjust the baking time with the temperature as the two go hand-in-hand, so you will need to adjust the time to give a bake as close as possible to the control (your standard product). Make experimental adjustments to baking time and temperature to cover the ENTIRE spectrum for baking the pizza. Compare your experimental results to the control pizza that should be made on every test day. If you cannot make a control pizza on each test day document your control pizza with pictures showing diameter, height, top and bottom color, and crumb structure. Also be sure to document the mastication properties. You would be amazed at how much your perception of the quality characteristics will change over time if this is not done, at least documenting it for the control will provide some kind of a fixed reference point for comparison purposes.
Once you have done your testing on each of the variable it will be time for Stage II, this is where you begin looking at "cross variables" such as higher dough absorption with baking time and temperature  as the experimental variables. This is going to be a long but rewarding study for you.
I've spent over 50-years doing it and I'm still learning new things all the time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I caught another tid-bit in what you said about the dough being pretty wet when you went to open it into a skin. I'm guessing that you are covering the dough boxes right away as opposed to allowing them to remain open until the internal dough ball temperature drops to 50 to 55F, then you can cover the boxes and kiss them good night. Does this sound familiar?
All of that condensation collecting on the dough ball tells me that the dough did not cool very efficiently which added to the amount of fermentation that the dough actually received, that combined with the water can be enough to result in the dough collapsing.
I don't recommend using a metal scraper of any kind on a plastic dough box, use only a plastic scraper.
Please P.M. me.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We make our dessert pizza bases by opening a regular skin then brushing it with melted butter and sprinkling well with a cinnamon-sugar mixture, add a streusel topping and bake just as you would any other pizza, allow pizzas to cool about 5-minutes and add a drizzle of powdered sugar-water icing. We add fruit slices and chopped nuts when we want to add the "WOW" factor.
In any case, regardless of how you make it, it makes for a tasty combination.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When you're up to needing 20 pizzas in as many hours this is not really the most opportune time to be experimenting with something that you have not ever used. Save the time for experimenting for those single or 2 or 3 pizza days.
You made the right decision!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A friend of mine has the TC oven as described in Craig's attachment and I was thoroughly impressed with it! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

OK, so the dough collapsed when you "pulled" the dough out of the box. You are not lifting it out using a plastic scraper, right?
Then, after you got the dough out of the box, what did you do? Details, details 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Staging a sauced pizza too far in advance of baking can/will promote the development of the good old "dreaded gum line". The time will vary with your sauce and if you have oiled the skin or not. If you put a spoon of sauce on a saucer and leave it undisturbed for a period of time you will see syneresus taking place (loss of moisture from the sauce) if you note the time it takes for this to appear this will tell you how long you can hold the sauced skins prior to baking. You can also help to prevent damage to the dough by VERY LIGHTLY oiling the skin before the sauce is applied. This will create a barrier to moisture migration into the dough as the moisture leaves the sauce.
Pre-saucing is generally not a good idea as it does nothing good the the finished pizza so my advice is to keep the time as short as possible.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you are going to degas the dough by mixing it you will need to mix the dough a bit longer to allow it to be balled without tearing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Let's start by reviewing your dough formula and EXACT dough management procedure (be sure to include all times and temperatures), in all probability I'm guessing that's where we'll find the problem at.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

All bets are "off the table" anytime a commercially made frozen dough has been subjected to thaw and re-freezing as the dough at that point is no longer considered to be commercially frozen (commercially frozen = freezing at -30 to -38F in a mechanical blast freezer with 600 to 800 linear feet of airflow per minute over the product or cryogenically frozen using liquid carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen at -45 to -55F in the product zone. This establishes a small ice crystal formation in the dough which is less deleterious to the yeast cells and gluten network but when thawed and re-frozen at a higher temperature a much larger and more angular ice crystal is formed which is very deleterious to yeast survival as well as continuity of the gluten network in the dough. In short, commercially frozen dough that has been abused will not perform as well as the same dough that has not been subjected to the abuse.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When I speak of  "HIGH" protein content flour I'm referring to a flour with a protein content in the 13 to 14+% range which would by pretty typical for use in making a New York style pizza. For most other styles a protein content of 12 to 12.8% works well (Pillsbury Bread/Bread Machine Flour) which is available at many supermarkets is a good choice. For deep-dish and thick crust pizzas I normally lean towards a flour in the 11.0 to 11.8% protein range.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The neat thing about working in bakers percent as opposed to true percent is that you can change any ingredient without changing the percent of any of the others.
As long as you know your dough formulation it's also very easy to formulate in bakers percent to give you and size dough you want to make. Just divide the sum of the bakers percent of your formula by 100 and then divide your desired dough weight by this number, this will give you the flour weight needed to make the new dough size, now you can calculate the amount of each ingredient for the new dough size. For example: The sum of bakers percent is 162% divided by 100 = 1.62. We want to make a dough weighing 500-grams. Divide 500 by 1.62 = 308.64-grams (flour needed to make a 500-gram dough from your dough formula). Now just calculate the ingredient amounts based on 308.64-grams total flour weight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I think what you are seeing has nothing to do with digestibility but instead everything to do with density. Frozen dough performance can be all over the board, especially when comparing doughs from different manufacturers. For example, how the dough has been stored (temperature and temperature fluctuation) and where the dough is at with regard to its projected shelf life will play a significant role in how the dough ultimately performs for the end user. This does not even take into account differences in dough formulation and processing which will also have a significant impact. It sounds like one of the doughs that you got was either at the the end or close to the end of its shelf life or it might have been abused in some manner during distribution or storage either by a distributor or at the point of sale (more common then what you might think). By design, frozen dough has little to no fermentation so in essence products made from it would be construed as being less digestible than products which are made from a fermented dough (fermentation is a form of digesting, just ask any ruminant) so in a sense you might say that eating a product made from a fermented dough is actually eating a product which has been partially digested already (actually better tasting than it sounds).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor   

Some stores use a VCM (vertical cutter mixer) to cut their cheese. Be sure to use the sharp metal cutting blade as opposed to the dull one used for mixing dough.
You might post this question over at the PMQ Think Tank <www.pmq.com>.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you want to do a "Neo style" 600F but if you want to go traditional Neo you'll be looking for an oven that should be able to reach north of 800F.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Assuming you are using refrigerated cheese as opposed to frozen?
Assuming you have pulled the fingers from the top of the oven for cleaning?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Depending upon the type of "00" that you are using that might be wwaayy too much fermentation. Plus if you are not proficient at opening the dough the "00" flours are not the most forgiving to work with.
If you want to continue with the "00" flour try using the dough after overnight fermentation, then after 24-hours and lastly after 48-hours, see if you see an improvement at one of these times.
You don't mention anything about your oven so I assume you are able to achieve a sufficiently high baking temperature (750+F.) to achieve a decent crust color.
It is also suggested that you hydrate the IDY by suspending it in a small portion of 95 to 100F water before adding it to the dough water (be sure to include the water that the IDY is suspended in with the total dough water amount/%)
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I think if it were me, I'd just make the necessary number of pizzas (completely cooked), and hold them in some type of insulated container (anything to help keep them as warm as possible, then using a screen, place then back into the oven for warming and crisping (this should only take a few minutes for each pizza). If the pizzas are thin enough you may not even need a screen, just place directly on the stone to reheat (even faster). This is what many of the slice places do with very good results.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The KA bread flour is perfect.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Here's my approach;
Make your dough specifically for hot press forming (Summerset or Do-Pro).
Ferment dough balls 18 to 24-hours prior to press forming.
After press forming, stack 5-high with a piece of parchment paper between each skin.
Place in cooler for 2-hours, then form into groups of 3-stacks each and plastic bag.
Store in cooler until ready to transfer to truck for use.
Store under refrigeration in truck.
To fill an order, remove a skin from the stack, place on a seasoned screen, dress to the order and place on the infeed side of the oven conveyor.
Remove baked pizza from the outfeed side of the conveyor, transfer pizza to a cutting station and place screen into dough box for cooling (they cool very fast) and reuse.
This is a very similar method to that used by some of the fast casual pizza places.
Additional things for consideration:
You will need to have a state operating license and in addition to that you will most likely need to have a local license if you operate in a different county, city or town. If you cross state lines you will need to be licensed for that state also. If you haven't already noticed, everyone is going to have their hand out.
Contact your local codes department to make sure what you intend to do is going to be approved, and GET IT IN WRITING!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 Might it also say one (1) cup lemon? I'd start at 1/4-cup and see what happens, then work up in 1/4-cup increments from there to 1-cup.
As strange as the recipe is it wouldn't surprise me if they used ADY but I'd rise above that and use IDY instead and add it on top of the flour.
Keep us posted on your progress.
One other thing, regarding their flour blend, you can essentially duplicate it using the Pillsbury Bread Machine aka Bread Flour available from most supermarkets.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For the dough you have two options, refrigerated dough balls that you might be able to have made by a local bakery to your specification (we can help you with that). You will need to have the bakery refrigerate the dough balls and get them to you ASAP and then you will hold them under refrigeration (cold fermentation / CF) for 1 to 3-days. The process for managing CF dough is discussed in many posts here. The other option is to buy a commercially made frozen pizza dough (most distributors will carry it), the frozen dough is available as dough balls, dough pucks, and also as pre-sheeted skins. The dough balls and pucks can be thawed (slacked out) in the fridge overnight for use on the following day, or they can be slacked out overnight, placed at room temperature until the INTERNAL dough temperature reaches 50 to 55F and then placed back into the cooler for 24-hours. The dough MUST then be used in its entirety on the day after that 24-hour period. Any dough not used for pizza can be converted to other products such as garlic knots or bread sticks as opposed to being tossed out.
As you are trying to keep things simple without added labor I would suggest looking into one of the smaller electric air impingement ovens made by companies such as Edge, XLT, Lincoln or Middleby-Marshall. Remember that you will also need to add a small prep-station for assembling the pizzas as well as a cutting station unless you plan on using your existing kitchen for these tasks. Keep in mind that whatever oven you choose, electric or not, your local code will most likely call for it to be installed under a hood so be sure to check before ordering.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I have to admit, that is one of the more bizarre "recipes" I have ever seen for pizza dough!
Written up in such a haphazard manner that we can't decipher it how do the employees manage to follow it accurately? The "pinch" of salt makes absolutely no sense at all (why even put it in?). The 1/2-cup of garlic powder is another one, garlic powder, like onion powder is a very effective reducing agent and anything over 0.15% in the dough will soften the dough. I'm betting that 1/2-cup exceeds this amount by a good margin. The only reason for using it at this level would be to enable using the dough very soon after mixing and the pictures of the skins seem to confirm this (very little to no real fermentation). The 1-Tsp. cinnamon isn't enough to contribute a flavor so why include it? The lemon juice is just a source of citric acid which helps to acidify the dough, this might possibly be done in light of the fact that the dough is a very short time dough or possibly a no-time dough. Commercially we acidify doughs too but we use vinegar since acetic acid is a by-product of yeast fermentation. If I read the flour correctly there is 23.5-pounds of flour in the recipe with 3-quarts (6#) of water, 1-quart of milk (about 28.16-ounces of water), 8-eggs (12-ounces water) and 2-quarts of oil, for simplicity let's call it 10.75-pounds of liquid so 10.75 divided by 23.5 X 100 = 45.74% absorption equivalency. I'd say this relates well to the pictures of the dough and the finished pizzas. The question is what kind of yeast is used and how much lemon juice is being added.
By the way, 1-pound of cinnamon would contain sufficient cinnamic aldehyde to stop the yeast dead in its tracks.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Hopefully she has sufficient sugar in the dough formula to give some crust color development at that low of a baking temperature. Also keep in mind that she is making a focaccia type of pizza which in many cases really doesn't have a lot of crust color development as it is what many might describe as a bready type of pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

pepe123;
Papa Murpohy's has a sweet tasting crust. We used 5% sugar in the dough formula to replicate their level of sweetness. Remember though that you will need to bake your pizzas at a lower temperature (400 to 450F) to control crust color development during baking. Of course, if you want it sweeter you can always add more sugar but keep in mind that with 5% sugar you will need to increase the yeast level (0.5 to 0.65% IDY with 5%) and even more as you increase the sugar level.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The pressing question is, where are you planning to make the dough? How about storing the dough? There are bread trucks and there are bread trucks, what size box does yours have? There won't be a lot of room after you add an approved sink, storage, prep, mixing, work space and oven, then add the sales area. For the oven, gas (propane) or electric. Remember gas storage or a generator. Would really like a little more information.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Looks about par for the course, I just tear those bubbles open and go on with life.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If the health department will allow it, butcher block without a doubt, my second choice would be man made quarts....about as close to indestructible as you can get.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

To answer your second question, as a rule once the dough is ready to begin opening and the dough is being held at room temperature, you window of time to open the dough is about 2-hours before you begin to see strange things happening.
It's hard to answer your last question as it depends upon room/fermentation temperature, yeast level, dough absorption and flour strength. I'll make a S.W.A.G. and say that you should be able to begin using a 24-hour dough after about 18-hours.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Chet;
Are you talking C or F. in temperature? "C" (Celsius) would make prefect sense but "F" (Fahrenheit) would be way to cold of an oven for baking pizzas. This is not to say that it cannot be done but I would seriously question it. Many of those old wood fired or coal fired stoves (I was raised with one) had a major problem, that was getting too hot. I can remember things being baked and at some point the oven door was cracked open to reduce the heat. I'm guessing that those pizzas might have been baked at a much higher temperature than what you might be thinking.
Is there anything else that you can provide us on those pizzas? Size, thickness, what were they baked on? In general terms what type of pizza were they closest to?
Any additional information will help.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In one word.....no. several hours, not a problem, overnight......probably not unless you reballed the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There is nothing fixed about the length of time the dough needs to rest at room temperature after CF before it is opened into a skin. Pizzerias will typically look for an internal dough ball temperature of 50F before beginning to open them while many home pizza makers look for something closer to 60F.  A lot of it will depend upon your abilities at opening the dough. Remember that the colder the dough is (within the 50 to 60F range) the easier it is to open if you are not proficient. If you typically make 3 pizzas at a time you might want to target the 50 to 55F temperature range for your opening temperature, then as you become more proficient (faster) you can increase the opening temperature to make the dough balls easier for you to open.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've used the trays/dough boxes from WRH Industries <www.wrh.net> Paul Bartley V.P. Sales & Marketing <pbartley@wrh.net> for years without a single problem. I can highly recommend then.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Cooking down the tomatoes doesn't change the pH, think of it like this, if you have a cup of white vinegar and measure the pH it should be about 2.5 to 2.7, if you add a cup of water to it will the pH change? Answer: no, only the TTA titratable acidity (concentration of acidity will change). Citric acid is used by manufacturers to ensure food safety of their canned tomatoes mostly because it is effective and it is also the main acid present in the tomato so it will have little to no impact upon the flavor of the canned product. Tomatoes are all over the board when it comes to pH. The pH of the tomatoes is dependent upon the variety and also upon the ripeness. Commercially, only the first picking is used for canned tomato products but even with that there is some amount of variability of ripeness within that grouping so it is necessary to adjust the pH of the tomatoes at the time of processing. When growing tomatoes at home you can hand pick your tomatoes at peak ripeness, which is impossible to do on a commercial basis. With all of the new tomato varieties being developed for the home gardener it is always wise to know the pH of your tomatoes at the time of processing, remember most new varieties are of a low acid type (not conducive to home canning as is), failure to do so may prove to be fatal.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm not you, but if I were, I'd remove the dough from the container (very carefully) and place it onto an oiled plate, flattening the dough as I did so (to about 1-inch in thickness, then lightly oil the dough and cover it with a piece of plastic. Remove it from the fridge about 30-minutes before opening.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It really doesn't increase gluten formation, it just strengthens the gluten which makes the dough more elastic. By putting the salt into the dough water the dough forms more quickly, giving us the smooth appearance faster with less mixing time so there is less heat build up due to bowl friction as well as less wear and tear on the mixer. Remember, the target for mixing a pizza dough is to achieve the smooth appearance as quickly as possible (long mixing times make it more difficult to consistently hit our target finished dough temperature), not to fully develop the gluten. Additionally, from the time a dough begins mixing until it begins to change in density is roughly 30-minutes, depending upon dough temperature and yeast level, so if a dough can be mixed in 10 to 12-minutes we will have 18 to 20-minutes to get the dough processed and in the cooler but if we mix the dough for 20-minutes, that time is reduced to just 10-minutes (the yeast activates during the mixing cycle) and you can only guess as to what that long of a mixing time will do to the finished dough temperature.
Why do we mix a pizza dough?
1) Disperse ingredients uniformly throughout the dough mass.
2) Hydrate ingredients.
3) Develop just enough gluten to retain dough ball shape and reduce/eliminate stickiness.
4) Achieve desired/targeted finished dough temperature.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I agree, adding the ADY suspension at 6-minutes before the end of the dough mixing procedure is a bit different (although this is very close to one of the manufacturer's recommended procedures for adding IDY) Note: ADY suspension and IDY are two very different animals). I don't think it would cause any real issues however, I really don't like to add liquids late in the dough mixing process (especially if those last minutes will be hand kneading) due to concerns of not getting the liquid (ADY suspension) in this case, thoroughly incorporated into the dough.
I've said it many times, flour is the #1 biggest variable when it comes to dough ingredients. It's the nature of the beast.
As a note of interest: This is the time of the year when flour mills are getting into using the new year crop so don't be surprised if you find that you need to make adjustments to the dough absorption. New crop year flour is like that "box of chocolates".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Agreed! You're ready to begin making pizza!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Consider every mistake to be a learning opportunity and you'll never stop getting smarter!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Adding the salt later in the dough mixing process is commonly used in bread production as a means to develop the gluten more rapidly during the mixing process. On many cases it is added about 5-minutes before the end of the mixing process, but again, that's for bread production only. In pizza dough production we are not looking for nearly as much gluten development (we typically mix only enough to achieve a smooth appearing dough) so it is more common to add the salt right up front (usually with the water) but many also opt to add it on top of the flour too. Remember, we are not looking for the gluten development of a bread dough. Both salt and sugar can/will inhibit or slow yeast activity but this only happens if you leave the yeast in contact with the salt or sugar for any appreciable length of time. When putting the salt into the water it is common to then put the flour in the bowl and the yeast on top of the flour (machine mixing only). When mixing the dough by hand the yeast is commonly mixed into the water containing the salt (cy can be mixed directly into the water but ADY needs to be activated and IDY needs to be hydrated separately before adding it to the water), the flour is then immediately added and the mixing process started. It should also be noted that for hand mixing the oil is generally added to the water too as this ensures better dispersion but when machine mixing it is better to mix the dough about 2-minutes (until you don't see any dry flour in the bowl) and then add the oil, this delayed oil addition procedure prevents the oil from interfering with the gluten development.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You also need to see what the top looks like to make an accurate determination.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've always said that I never had a pizza that I couldn't learn to like but I had to make an exception when I tried Wheat State Pizza here in Manhattan, Kansas a number of years ago 
They didn't last very long either.....gee, can't imagine why???
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you are mixing the dough by hand there may be some advantage to dissolving the salt in a portion of the dough water but if you are using a dough mixer there is no need to do it unless you are using a coarse salt. When I mix my doughs using a mixer I always put the water in the bowl first, then add the salt and sugar (if used) followed by the flour. No need to stir/whisk or mix the salt into the water. I then add the IDY on top of the flour and mix using the delayed oil addition mixing method.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Gluten is the material formed by the wheat flour proteins glutenin and gliadin, these proteins are generally present in greater quantity when there is more total protein in the flour. It is the formed gluten that is responsible for binding the dough together and giving it the unique elastic properties that we look for in a dough. During fermentation the yeast produces byproducts (acids, alcohol and carbon dioxide) which work to weaken the protein (think of marinating a tough piece of meat), plus the yeast also carries with it enzymes which work to convert some of the starch into sugar for the yeast to feed upon (these are amylase enzymes) another enzyme present is protease/proteolytic enzymes which hydrolize proteins and weaken them to provide the desired extensibility properties needed so the dough can be easily opened into a skin without excessive dough memory characteristics aka "snap-back", so no, it is not the yeast itself doing the work on the proteins but instead it is their byproducts that do the work and the longer you allow the dough to ferment the more impact those byproducts will have upon the characteristics of the finished dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In a pizzeria we can force the dough balls by flattening them to about 1/2-inch in thickness and placing them onto a warm (100 to 120F) surface and lightly oiling to prevent drying, by this method the dough is usually ready to open in less than 10-minutes. We actually developed a shelf liner which could be installed over a heated holding shelf just for this purpose.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

To a great extent yes, but you may find that you will need to place a screen under the deep-dish pizza if the bottom gets too much bake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

My concern is the word "around", an estimate would be "around" but a thermometer only gives a specific temperature. In any case I'm sure CDennis will set us straight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For the olive oil, go with 2% and you'll be fine.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Welcome! You came to the right place.
Let us know what kind of equipment you have (scale, mixer, something about your oven) and what kind of pizza you're interested in making.
What part of Alaska?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Nice try, but chick pea and lentils don't contain any gluten forming proteins. All you are adding is a protein supplement, you would get a similar result by adding a protein drink base to the flour. In short, it will not increase the strength of your flour, it will make it more nutritious (from a protein stand point), but not any stronger.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A yellow flag jumped out when you said "reducing the water temperature to room temperature". To me, this says that the water temperature might be too warm resulting in a hot dough condition which most certainly will contribute to the stickiness you've been experiencing. My question to you now is: What is the finished dough temperature? A common water temperature is 60 to 65F and a typical finished dough temperature is in the range of 75 to 80F. Let's see how your numbers compare to these for starters.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It sounds like you were making a high absorption dough and trying to bake it on a screen as opposed to a stone or baking steel. Yep, that'll get you into trouble more times than not.
Tell us what kind of pizza you're trying to make...a N.Y. style? How do you mix your dough, by hand or machine? This is one site where T.M.I. is seldom ever an issue, unless it gets too personal.
Share with us what you are trying to achieve and somebody here will be glad to chime right in and help you get to where you want to be with your pizza making endeavors.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

With a smaller size dough sometimes the dough can get kicked around in the bowl by the "J" hook and receive some gluten development in the process but when the dough is of any size it just clings to the bottom and sides of the bowl getting very little actual agitation in the process. Or at some point the dough will develop gluten after which it then clings for dear life onto the hook and won't come off so it gets almost not further development when this happens. The only options are to continually stop the mixer and pull or cut the dough off of the hook (not very effective) or to increase the mixer speed thus allowing centrifugal force to hopefully pull the dough off of the hook.
In any case though, you only need to mix the dough JUST until it begins to take on a smooth appearance, more mixing than that is not needed not is it usually desirable as it contributes to a more bread like crumb structure in the finished crust as opposed to the desirable open, porous crumb structure which contributes to the crispiness of the finished crust. The "window pane" test for assessing gluten development is used almost exclusively for bread and buns but seldom for pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You don't say how much yeast is being provided by the poolish but you are correct, if the poolish is still active and healthy you normally don't need to add any more yeast.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Generally speaking, the thickness of the pizza will be determined by the type of pizza you are making, not be the amount of toppings applied to it. An example of this would be the difference between an American thin crust (think Domino's) and a Pizza Hut pan style pizza where for all practical purposes the amount of toppings is the same for both pizzas but the amount of dough and the finished crust are significantly different.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm not sure I'd go that route with the double yeast. Instead, just go with 0.5% IDY and then proceed as you have outlined, I think you will have a much better end result.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael brings up a good point with the mountains, while we know that altitude will affect how a a pizza (dough in general) bakes, we know that we may need to make adjustments in our dough formulation to account for this, it can also affect how the dough looks and feels, so it would be good the know the altitude that the "rural town" was located at.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yep, just add it right up front, no need to delay its addition at the 6% level. I add the solid fats tight on top of the flour. HOWEVER, if you melt the butter (or any solid fat) it now acts like an oil, at least until it re-solidifies, so if the it's melted it should be treated as an oil. If it's only softened you don't need to delay its addition either, which brings up a good point, if the butter is cold it may be too hard and not get thoroughly incorporated into the dough within most dough mixing time parameters, so it's best to use the butter at room temperature.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In addition to Yael's questions, do you have a reverse spiral dough agitator or a "J" hook on your mixer?
Planetary mixers without a reverse spiral dough arm are notoriously sensitive to the amount of dough in the bowl.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A lot of what you mention as differences could possibly be due to differences in the VWG. There are different types of VWG and when you get it from different manufacturers there is a possibility it could perform differently. It there any way you can make the same dough in the city but using the same brand of VWG as was used in the rural town?
Differences in the water, especially the hardness/mineral content might be a contributor but in this case I don't think it's the culprit.
Since you are using IDY, how do you add the IDY to the mixer?
How about the age of the IDY that you used in the city? How long have you had it? How has it been stored?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

After some trepidation I did cut my own hair, in fact, I've cut it several times now and I have to say that I'm more than pleased with it. I'm using a #4 attachment for the sides and a #6 for the top. Then go to the #2 for the back of the neck and trimming close around the ears. It's so easy that I can't see ever going back into a barber shop again.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

To achieve a stronger (darker) crust color just increase the amount of malt or sugar.
As for storage of the diastatic malt, like I said, condensation is the big issue. If the package is unopened there is no problem at all BUT you MUST be sure to allow the malt to THOROUGHLY warm to room temperature before opening or you will get condensation on the malt which over time, will lead to severe lumping. Because the stuff is so hygroscopic the condensation will quickly be absorbed into the malt powder, this will be repeated each time the package is opened for use. I have personally seen a near full bag turned into a single block of malt in just a few months, and this was with refrigerated storage (opened for use two to three times a week). The condensation issue is pretty well negated with room temperature storage but remember that each time the package is opened you are allowing more humid air to replace the desiccated air inside the package and the above process continues however at a much slower rate.
The key to effective storage of diastatic malt powder is to minimize the head space in the package, leave it in the original packaging and fold the package down tight to the contents after opening and after each use, secure well using a rubber band and hope for the best. It should go without saying that those living in a drier climate will experience fewer issues than those living in an area with high humidity. The same can be said for summer and winter, with fewer issues in the winter due to the drier air and more in the summer when the relative humidity is significantly higher.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Jimmy;
My email address is <thedoughdoctor@hotmail.com>
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've not personally used one of these ovens but I've seen them at Pizza Expo and I don't know anyone who has one.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It sounds like you are looking at the Doyon Jet Air Pizza Oven (PIZ3). You should be able to Google this to get more information on the oven.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I bake my American style pizza right on the screen. Just make sure your screens are seasoned, if they are not seasoned the pizzas will stick to the screens and you will have a difficult time separating the two. As you continue to use your seasoned screen(s) they will continue to darken (a good thing) which will further improve the baking properties of the screen. Do NOT wash a seasoned screen, just wipe it down with a clean towel or paper towel after each use. Once you begin to get some color on your seasoned screens they do not need to be oiled for each use (I do suggest lightly oiling the screens before each use even after seasoning) for the first few bakes though.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Rolls;
Sweet dreams........
Rom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Do you have a scale capable of weighing in grams?
Please tell us something about your oven.
What kind of pizza are you wanting to make?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Absolutely! No different from most of the premium breads, rolls and pastries sold at the local supermarket. The only reason why some pastries have to be refrigerated is because they have some kind of perishable filling inside them (like my favorite....the chocolate eclair) or a cheese Danish which may not need refrigeration if the cheese mixture is applied pre as opposed to post bake. Even the butter that you're putting onto the crust immediately after baking will not warrant refrigeration.
Just store at room temperature, and even if it's a little warmer it won't hurt at all.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Sure! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You're in a conundrum in that you want to use the same dough for freezing (0.5%, or more IDY recommended) and for cold fermentation (0.2 to 0.4% IDY recommended). So you have to compromise, low end for frozen dough and high end for CF which is, in my opinion, 0.5% IDY.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Rolls;
To retain maximum freshness in the buns, if you are going to use the walk-in cooler, first turn it off and allow it to warm up to room temperature or better yet, 85 to 90F. Refrigerated temperatures are the temperature at which bakery foods stale at their fastest rate. The slowest staling is experienced at 85 to 90F., but not for more than 3 to 4-days as after that mold is going to be the issue not staling.
My advice:
Brush with melted butter or Ghee.
Allow to cool to 95 to 100F.
Place into plastic bags and close using a twist tie.
Store in a warm area until used on the following day.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

First off, your salt level is rather low at only 0.76%, for flavor, dough strength and controlling the rate of fermentation I'd suggest increasing it to 1.75% or as high as 2.5%.
As for the finished dough temperature, in most cases I would say that 70 to 75F might be a bit to cold for a cold fermented dough going into a walk in cooler, but for a reach-in commercial cooler it is the recommended temperature range, and since a home fridge is nowhere as efficient as a commercial reach-in cooler I think you will be fine using the same dough for your CF process.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Here is a process that might work for you, I can't say for sure as I don't know anything about your shop conditions or much else for that matter.
This is an adaption of an emergency pan dough method, please keep in mind that the dough as presented is good for a single day but you can always try it on the second day to see it it will perform to your expectations, if not, any remaining unused dough at the end of the day can be made into bread sticks or garlic knots and par-baked for later use or it can also be incorporated into new dough at up to 15% of the new dough weight.
Flour (12 to 12.8% protein content) 100%
Salt: 2%
Sugar: 2%
Fat: 4%
IDY: 0.5%
Water: (65F) 62% This may need to be adjusted as all flours are a bit different.

Put water in mixing bowl, add salt and sugar, add flour and IDY.
Mix about 2-minutes at low speed or just until you don't see any dry flour, then add the oil/fat.
Mix one more minute at low speed, then mix about 8-minutes at medium speed or JUST until the dough has a smooth appearance.
The dough is now done mixing. Check the finished temperature, you want it to be in the 75 to 80F range.
Take the dough directly to the bench for processing. It must be completely processed within 20-minutes.
Scale and ball the dough. Place into dough boxes and lightly oil the top of each dough ball.
Place in cooler in a cross-stacked manner until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 55F. Then down-stack.
Allow the dough to cold ferment for 18 to 24-hours.
On the following day, remove dough from cooler and immediately place into dark colored, greased deep-dish pans. Flatten the dough into the pan as well as possible OR you can pass flatten the dough balls on the bench and place into the pan.
Cover the pans with a large sheet of plastic or some other manner and allow to proof for 60-minutes in a warm location.
Press the dough out again (in the pan) and allow to continue proofing for 20 to 30-minutes, if the dough hasn't pulled away from the pan don't touch it, if it has pulled away gently press the dough again to fit the pan.
Here is where you will need to experiment:
Place two pans of dough in the cooler, then in 30-minutes place two more pans in the cooler, then in 15-minutes 2 more pans and again after another 15-minutes (in total there will be a difference of 2.5-hours between the first two pans and the last two pans going into the cooler. After the last two pans are in the cooler remove the first two pans, dress and bake (about 7.5-minutes at 475F) in an air impingement oven. At the same intervals that they went into the cooler remove the pans of dough (in the same order) and dress and bake. Assess each pizza after baking to determine which proofing time provides you with the best finished pizza. The process may need to be tweaked a bit for your specific shop conditions but this should get you on the right track and close to where you want to be.
This process will allow you to work your deep-dish pizza straight out of your cooler inventory so as long as you have an inventory in the cooler you will have deep-dish pizzas to bake. Unless you have a LOT of deep-dish pans you will need to repeat this process at some point during the day to rebuild your inventory in the cooler.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Peter;
I most cases cold water won't cut it due to the longer mixing time needed, but if you can live with 10 to 15-days shelf life you can put the greater gluten development on the back shelf and maybe get away using straight ice water, or something close to it. In many cases we have to use ice as part of the water, if you do this be sure to weigh the ice and subtract an equal WEIGHT of water from the formula.
Chilling the flour can help if you are not mixing to a greater level of gluten development, otherwise it is counter productive as it takes longer to develop the gluten in cold or frozen flour which lengthens the mixing time which creates more heat due to bowl friction.
In commercial operations we use mixers with direct expansion jacketed mixing bowls the get so cold that they will freeze the dough to the bowl if the mixer stops with the bowl cooling turned on. They also super cool the flour by injecting carbon dioxide into it, however they also add glutathione or L-cysteine to the dough to reduce the dough mixing time. It needs to be noted that all of this produces a dough that is VERY TOUGH and hard, it is so tough that highly specialized horizontal mixers with dual drive are a standard feature. I might also add that both L-cysteine and glutathione are counter productive to achieving a long (16 to 20-weeks) shelf life so commercial frozen dough will also contain some type of a coated (think time release) oxidant such as ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, or possibly one of the newer enzymatic oxidants, which kicks in after mixing to counter the effects of the reducing agent used (L-cysteine or glutathione).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Tscarborough;
Your question leads me to believe that you may have never been on a "pizza" date!   
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Absolutely! It's the final dough temperature that is causing the dough to ferment even though its in the freezer. In a home freezer it can easily take a day or more for a 500-gram dough ball to thoroughly freeze (it ain't frozen until the core is frozen). In one test we did many years ago the core of a 500-gram dough ball still wasn't frozen after 3-days in a home freezer! The good news is that the dough, even though it has been fermented will perform pretty well out to something in the 10 to 15-day range, after that it's a crap shoot as to how well the dough will perform, if at all. For home use, who cares if the dough doesn't perform up to snuff? You can always make a few adjustments and skate by, but in a commercial application that bucket doesn't hold water as the dough has to ALWAYS perform up to the customer's expectations, even in view of abuse bestowed upon the dough at the hands of the distributor, merchandiser, and the end user!
You can hedge your bets and get optimum performance from your dough by doing the following:
Target finished dough temperature at 65 to 70F.
Mix the dough to near full gluten development.
Scale and ball IMMEDIATELY after mixing.
Flatten the dough balls to 1 to 1.5-inches thick.
Lightly oil the dough "pucks".
Place on aluminum sheet pan (better heat transfer) for freezing.
Dough should go into the freezer ASAP after mixing and forming.
Plastic bag the dough pucks only AFTER the core temperature reaches the +15 to +10F range.
To use the frozen dough:
Remove from freezer and allow to temper AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the core temperature reaches 55 to 60F.
Place into the fridge to begin the cold fermentation process.
Note: Frozen dough formulas will typically contain 1.5 to 2 times the normal yeast level for the product being produced, this is to adjust for the yeast cells destroyed and/or damaged during the freezing process. In a home use setting failure to do this will usually result in a slower than normal fermentation rate that may not even be noticed as we automatically adjust for it by just allowing the dough to ferment or proof longer, commercially though this is not a viable solution, hence the higher yeast levels.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Please let us know how it turns out and if you can, send some pics.
I don't know what you plan to store the dough balls in but to get started you might use the individual plastic bag method. We have discussed this method here previously so I won't go into the details: oil dough ball, place in plastic bread type bag, twist to close, tuck twisted end under dough ball as you place in in the fridge, bring out and allow to set AT room temperature for about 2-hours before opening into skins for immediate use. NOTE: These is no cross-stacking or leaving anything open with this method....very convenient.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I will address some of your questions to help you get started with food for thought.
Flour: I would recommend using the KABF as it has a higher protein content and is better suited to longer fermentation times.
Absorption: I suggest beginning with 62% for long fermentation times and then work up from there.
Fat: You can use olive oil if you wish, I suggest using a pomace grade olive oil as it will provide a better flavor when used IN the dough.
Yeast: Use IDY at 0.25%. Add it directly to the flour. IDY is very stable and is easy to use.
Salt: If you like things salty go for 3%, but I recommend 2 to 2.5%.
Sugar: 2 to 3% should work fine for you.
Process: An autolyse really isn't needed with dough absorption in this range. If you "have" to use it this is a good time to catch up on some reading. No yeast in an autolyse if you do put it in it is a biga and totally different.
Adding Ingredients: Add the water, then add salt and sugar (no need to stir or whisk), add flour with IDY last on top of the flour. Mix at low speed just until you don't see any dry flour, then add the oil and mix one more minute at low speed, go to medium speed and mix JUST until the dough takes on a smooth appearance (typically about 8-minutes). Targeted finished dough temperature is 75F.
Take dough DIRECTLY from the mixer to the bench, scale and ball, lightly oil each dough ball, place in fridge UNCOVERED until the INTERNAL dough ball temperature reaches 50F then cover for the duration of CF. Cold ferment for 72-hours (experiment).
To use the dough, remove from fridge, allow dough balls to warm AT (NOT TO) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 60F. Depending upon your skills, if you find it difficult to open the dough at this temperature open the dough at 50F, so I'd suggest trying one at 50F and deciding if you want to allow it to warm more or not...your call.
Bake on a dark colored/seasoned screen or pan or if you have one, a stone or steel. Bake at 500F if possible.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Store it like you would brown sugar, remember it's extremely hygroscopic. Never refrigerate it, it won't hurt it but it will only promote condensation...not a good thing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Following the old KISS principal;
Mix
Finsihed dough temp @ 70 to 75F.
Take immediately to bench for scaling and balling.
Oil the dough balls and bag individually (we have discussed this method a number of time previously).
Refrigerate overnight.
Box in cardboard cases and transport to event.
Store under refrigeration
Use the dough directly from the refrigerated cases.
Open into skins, dock well, dress to the order and bake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Did the dough formula that you "followed" say it was suitable for freezing?
My emergency dough formula is intended for immediate use only! It has not been formulated for freezing. Doughs that are formulated for freezing will have high sugar,salt and yeast levels, they will be mixed to near full gluten development and they will not be fermented prior to the freezing process, additionally the dough balls are almost always flattened to about 1.5-inches thick to facilitate rapid freezing if the dough. Dough that is not blast frozen (-35 to -55F) will have an effective shelf life of 10 to 15-days.
As for the dough that you have, you might try reballing it and allowing it to cold ferment over night, then remove from the fridge and allow to set AT room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 60F, then open into skins and try making a pizza.
Without seeing what you actually did I can't comment on much.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Why are you using such warm water for both the poolish and the dough? You should be targeting not more than 82F for the poolish (actually I like to target 75F) and 75 to not more than 80F for the finished dough temperature. I don't look for a "mature poolish, instead I go by the flavor I'm looking for which I typically get in about 8-hours. If your poolish is much warmer than 80F I would think it would be a candidate for full collapse by 14-hours. You still want to see some activity in the poolish. Hopefully your salt is 13.7-grams and not 113.7-grams (typo?). After the bulk fermentation I would just scale and ball and CF overnight, you will need to experiment to see how long you will need to allow the dough balls to set at room temperature before opening, with your absorption I'm guessing maybe 90-minutes?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your dough formulation needs either diastatic malt or sugar if you are going to use "00" flour in a home oven. Your pizza is super limp and is severely lacking in any crust color. Both diastatic malt and sugar will provide crust color and might also help with yeast performance too. If it were me, I'd be using just a quality bread type flour that is already malted at the flour mill, I think you'll find it to be much more compatible with your home oven. "00" type flours typically perform best when you can bake on the north side of 750F/399C.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

So you're using a "dough box" as opposed to a "pizza box"....got it!
When one opens a dough ball into a skin the dough ball is transformed either manually or mechanically or by a combination of both methods into a flattened shape known as a dough skin aka pizza skin upon which the sauce, cheese and other toppings are placed immediately before being placed into the oven for baking.
Since you were using a dough box, in the future should you have a change in plans all you will need to do is to lightly oil the dough balls (you can do that without disturbing them in the box unless they have already begun to proof (rise), in that case you might want to re-round the dough (flatten and reform back into dough balls), then lightly oil and place back into the dough box, leave the lid off for the first 2-hours when you put them into the fridge to ensure consistent cooling, then cover the box for the duration of time in the fridge. If you don't have room in the fridge for the dough box refer to my previous instructions for bagging the dough balls. If you don't leave the dough box open for those 2-hours the dough will not cool properly and can result in an over fermented dough condition by the time you're ready to use it (it would depend upon how much fermentation the dough balls had already received at the pizzeria), you will also experience a wet, sticky dough when you go to use the dough due to condensation forming inside the cough box as a result of not leaving it open. Some of that condensed water will be absorbed into the dough and can manifest itself later on in the form of bubbles forming on the dough during the baking process.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Actually, the Farinograph report will not give you the information that you are looking for. The Farinograph absorption is that amount of water needed to be added to the flour to give a dough with a specific viscosity a full development. It serves only as a reference point by all who use it. To make application of the Farinograph absorption data one needs to develop what is called a Farinograph factor which is specific to the product being made. For example most U.S. commercial bakeries producing white pan bread will use a Farinograph factor of about 1.04 to possibly as high as 1.07. This means that for their specific product, made by their specific bread making process and equipment they will multiply the Farinograph absorption by 1.04 to 1.07 to get the STARTING dough absorption for that specific lot of flour, they will then make adjustments as necessary to the actual dough absorption for optimum processing and finished product quality characteristics. Because MAXIMUM dough absorption is specific to the product as well as the dough management process being employed the only real way to determine it is to make a series of dough with increasing dough absorption values until you find the HIGHEST absorption that the dough will carry while still allowing for decent handling properties and providing the desired finished product characteristics. Once you have done this you can divide that number by the Farinograph absorption value of THAT SAME FLOUR to find YOUR Farinograph factor, now with your Farinograph factor you can take any other flour for which you know the Farinograph absorption value and calculate the STARTING MAXIMUM dough absorption for that flour in YOUR shop.
You cannot calculate MAXIMUM dough absorption on just the protein level of the flour, there are just too many variables with the protein which include strength characteristics of the protein and especially the fermentation tolerance characteristics of the flour, and to some extent how the flour was milled can also impact the absorption properties too, for example, if there is more starch damage in the flour it will exhibit a greater dough absorption than a like flour with a lower level of starch damage BUT with fermentation the damaged starch will be quickly hydrolized into sugar, thus releasing its water and the dough will turn to soup.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It is called desiccation, to put it another way; your dough balls dried out. So, how do you prevent it from happening again? Simple, just very lightly oil the dough balls and place them into individual plastic bags (like bread bags). DO NOT use the ZipLock bags. In a pinch you can even use those thin bags that you can get in the produce department at your local supermarket. Drop the lightly oiled dough ball into the bag, twist the open end into a pony tail and tuck it under the dough ball as you place it into the fridge. To use the dough on the following day, remove the dough from the fridge about 90-minutes before you want to open it into skins, then turn the bag down around the dough ball and invert the bag over a floured work surface the dough will fall from the bag inverting it as it falls free. Flour both sides of the dough and begin opening it into a skin by your normal method. Something you said though sounds strange, you said the dough was in a regular pizza box (2-inches high at most). Mighty small dough balls?? Am I missing something? I'm assuming the dough was not already opened as you mentioned "dough balls", with several in the same box.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Amen to that!!
It's not just the yeast, but the combined effects of acids (produced during fermentation), and enzymes on the starch and proteins which work to degrade the starch and proteins making them more digestible plus the degraded proteins are further degraded during baking which helps to further contribute to the flavor of the baked crust.
If you want to see what a short or no fermentation dough tastes like just buy some commercial (Rich's) frozen dough and make a pizza skin out of it, dress it and bake it. Commercially made frozen dough is produced with essentially no fermentation but it does have the added additional yeast needed to allow it to perform much like an emergency dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm betting a cheap Walmart or Costco run of the mill toaster oven would work just fine for your limited application. I've made pizza a number of time in my son's afore mentioned toaster oven with decent success with thin crust pizzas. I haven't tried making anything close to a deep-dish or even a thick crust pizza in it so I can't comment.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Any yeast calculator that doesn't take temperature into consideration is NOT a calculator. Temperature is the #1 driver of fermentation/yeast activity. There is no way one can calculate the amount of yeast to use without first knowing the temperature that the dough will be fermented at.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Spot on!
Normally malted flour has approximately 0.25% 20 degree L dry malt powder. So if you have a 60 degree L malt powder you would use 1/3 as much 0.25 divided by 3 = 0.08333333% to achieve that level of malting. There is nothing chiseled in stone regarding how much malt to use but if you use too much the first thing you will notice is a sticky dough condition, then excessive crust color development during baking and if you really go for broke you might even experience a weakening of the dough accompanied by the stickiness.
Tom Lehmann

Not a bad looking pizza at all. See, that wasn't so hard after all, was it? 
You're well on your way to making even more great pizzas!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Always before. This results in less damage to the yeast during the freezing process.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It doesn't do any good to put them back into the cooler as it it all but impossibly to effectively cool them once they have fermented and become less dense, but all is not lost, I NEVER find it necessary to toss out any unused dough balls.
1) They can be incorporated into new dough at up to 15% of the new dough weight.
2) The dough balls can be partially opened, placed on screens and stored in the cooler in a wire tree rack (cover with a food contact approved bag after 20 to 30-minutes).
3) Make into bread sticks or garlic knots.
4) Make into dessert pizzas by opening into skins, brushing with melted butter and sprinkling with a cinnamon-sugar mixture, then make a cheese base (1# cream cheese, 1# sour cream, 1# ricotta cheese, 8-ounces powdered sugar, 2 whole eggs (about 100-grams/4-ounces) and mix until smooth, add cream to thin if necessary, you want the consistency of mayonnaise. Spread about 3/16-inch over the skin leaving a 1/4-inch edge exposed. Top with sliced fruit, berries, sliced grapes, etc. If you wish you can also use drained fruit cocktail. Bake just like your regular pizzas and finish with a powdered sugar and water icing drizzled over the top after cooling for about 15-minutes. Store under refrigeration. Serve lightly reheated or cold.  We have discussed this dessert pizza before so a search through the archives should bring it up with more detail.
If you are so inclined you can also just stop after applying the cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle with a ready made streusel mix and bake the same as your regular pizzas. Cut into strips or squares and serve with a side cup of powdered sugar-water icing as a dessert option.
Use your imagination to come up with ways to drive your business with what you have been tossing out.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Alex, that's a hard question to answer without knowing a lot more about your oven, but for starters I's personally start at the highest temperature your oven will bake at (both top and bottom the same) and let the chips fall where they may regarding the total baking time. Use the bake characteristics to guide you in making further temperature adjustments if necessary.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

White flour:
Room Temperature storage in metal or plastic containers (5-gallon pails) = 1-year.
Refrigerated storage in plastic bags or plastic pails = 2+ years.
Frozen in plastic bags placed in plastic 5-gallon pails and sealed = 10-years +.
Whole-wheat flour: Room temperature = 2 to 3-weeks (rancidity is the issue).
Whole wheat flour: Refrigerated: 4 to 6-months.
However you store the flour it is suggested that you break it down into quantities that you can use in 2 or 3-weeks so you will be putting multiple bags into a plastic pail, then you can remove just what you need for a few week use without disturbing the rest.
Things to look for: 1) The flour clumps. Flour doesn't clump, this is caused by an Indian Meal Moth infestation and it is their webs that result in the clumping. 2) Flour beetles or cigarette beetles can infest flour and are seen as what looks like coarse black pepper in the flour (usually at the top of the bag).
Whole wheat flour: Frozen 8 to 12-months.
NOTE: If you freeze the flour always break it down into smaller bags for use over a week or so. Don't use flour directly out of the freezer, instead allow it to temper AT room temperature for 24-hours before opening the bag. This will prevent condensation from forming in the flour left in the bag which can lead to mold development in the flour.
Pick your poison.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'll give it 5-years....on the outside, my gut instinct says 3-years.
Burn out is the biggest obstacle.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Welcome! You came to the right place to up your pizza game!
I'd suggest that you begin by researching some of the past discussions on cracker type thin crust pizza. We have had some very good discussions along with instructions for making it that might help you get started, then let us know where you need help. Just for a reference, you say you eat mostly chain pizza, which one has the crust closest to what you would like to make, someone here might have already reverse engineered/replicated it already for you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Oxygenate the flour? You're pulling my leg, right?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I don't think it's the cold fermentation that is the problem but instead I think it's all the extra time you are giving the dough before opening it. By nature, sourdoughs are more acid than other types of doughs and acids degrade proteins (it is the two gluten forming proteins that create what we fondly refer to as "dough") all that additional time in the fridge is just allowing that much more time for the acids to further degrade the flour proteins which results in the weak dough that you're experiencing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You use a spiral mixer just like any other dough mixer, add tempered water first, followed by the flour, salt, yeast, sugar (if used) and any other dry ingredients, mix at low speed just until all of the flour is whetted, then add the oil while mixing at low speed for 1-minute and finish mixing at second or high speed just until the dough takes on a smooth appearance.....you're done mixing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The one question that just begs to be asked is: What is your business concept?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

leto;
Your assumption is indeed correct.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I use a KD-8000. It has a sufficiently large platform and plenty of capacity (remember capacity = weight of container + contents), and it runs on regular flashlight batteries, for a very long time I might add. Cost is about $50.00.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Since all chicken, like eggs are considered to be E-coli positive I am more concerned over cross contamination than being able to cook it to 160F (the industry accepted target temperature).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What is being described sounds a lot like a high starch damage flour.
Carries high absorption beautifully due to the damaged starch but exhibits only about 90-minutes of fermentation tolerance after which time the dough "lets-down" flattens out.
How do the dough balls look at 1 and 2-hours?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

While CY may be more "sexy" to use the IDY, when used properly, will give you much more consistent results and it has a significantly longer shelf life too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thank you,
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

ZULU202;
If you will contact me directly at <thedoughdoctor@hotmail.com> I'll send you a copy of my dough management procedure which should put you on "terra firma" and from there you can experiment as you wish.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Does the flour carry the water initially?
How are you mixing the dough? What does the dough look like after mixing? After 12-hours? After 24-hours?
More information is needed.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Aluminum sheet pans work well too, place the dough balls on a lithely oiled sheet pan (18 X 26") and cover with a food contact approved plastic bag. I just wrote an article on this for PMQ Magazine, it will be in the second part of a two part article. The first part is discussion on how to use dough boxes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You did ask for a finished crust akin to a P.J.s, that's pretty close! To reduce the crust browning just reduce the sugar until you get the color you're looking for. For a more open crumb structure reduce the dough mixing time by 2-minutes and increase the total yeast by 1%, let's see where that gets us.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

          
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Potato starch is nothing more than finely ground dehydrated mashed potato, so if you have potato starch go ahead and use it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael, "core", like the core of the earth. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

They're not harmful and they will go away during baking, nothing to worry about. Pretty common.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

To match the equivalent of flour that is malted at the mill you will need to use 0.25% of a 20L diastatic malt powder with an un-malted flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your ADY amount id 0.6%, not 0.006% (3 divided by 500 X 100 = 0.6)
That's a lot of yeast for the way you are fermenting the dough. Plus I don't advise allowing the dough to come up to room temperature after the cold fermentation period, instead, allow it to temper AT (NO TO) room temperature until the internal ball temperature reaches 60F.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

By my calculation you are trying to make a 4-day dough using 1.69% IDY (0.2 divided by 11.8 X 100 = 1/69491%) This is WWAAYY too much IDY. For a 4-day dough I only use 0.375% (11.8 X 0.375 (press the "%" key) and read: 0.04425-ounce(1.2567-grams).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Deck ovens have their limitations. The more pizzas you put into the oven the longer and more often the door is open/opened thus reducing top heat. With Marsal deck ovens they have tremendous heat recovery in the deck which is why the bottoms are getting too dark or burned. I also know their advertising that you don't need to rotate pizzas in their ovens, great advertising claim, and it works with just one or two pizzas in the oven, with more pizzas than that, don't believe it. Without knowing your dough formula and dough management procedure, I feel you may be out of oven capacity. Your baking time is not too out of line with what we have found when baking with a full deck of pizzas.
Can you make your pizzas bake any faster? Maybe but we need to know where you are presently at with dough formulation, scaling weight  and dough management as you may need to make changes to all of these.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If it is a softer crumb structure that you are seeking you can increase the fat content up to about 8% without any difficulties. The only thing that increasing the dough absorption will change is the handling properties of the dough as any additional water will just need to be baked out (is is very difficult to increase the moisture content of the crumb by a significant amount without adding something to retain that additional water. So, if you want to have a more moist crumb you best bet will be to include some mashed potato flakes in the dough formula. I would suggest starting at 2% and going up in 2% increments from there. For every 1% mashed potato flake that you add you will need to increase the dough absorption by an additional 2%.
If you want to know what is in the "additive cocktail" that you are using all you need to do is to look up the E.U. numbers shown in their ingredient listing and that will identify the functional ingredients. Depending upon what is actually included you might be able to eliminate it but we would need to know the constituent ingredients before making a decision. In many cases I've found that when cocktails such as this are used the cost will exceed the benefit by a significant margin. I'm betting that included in the ingredients are salt, sugar, DATEM, ascorbic acid and some type of a fat to eliminate dusting and separation.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Regarding the soda, if there is any oil/fat of any kind in/on the stone the soda will saponify the fat rendering a soapy taste which could make matters even worse.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you can smell it, it's volatile, if they're volatile you should be able to place your stone in the oven and cook-off the volatiles. Try placing your stone in the oven at pizza baking temperature and let it bake for an hour or more, if you have a broiler maybe put it in or near the broiler heat. This should drive off any volatiles. You mentioned soap, did you ever wash it with soap? I never wash mine, ever! If it really needs cleaning (seldom) I just scrape it and if deemed necessary I might hit it with a little sandpaper. Just to confirm though, this is NOT a glazed ceramic tile we're talking about..right?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 

Non-diastatic malt is often considered as a sweetener or type of sugar but with a flavor component added to it. Due to the flavor component it is not a good sweetener if you are trying to achieve a sweeter tasting baked product but if you are looking for a "nutty" flavor aspect or a malted milk type flavor (depends upon the amount you use) or a darker crust color, look no further.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Previously answered in response to your email.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I think 5% additional dough absorption would be a good place to start. For all practical purposes, there is NO difference in performance between CY and IDY or even ADY for that matter when each is used at the correct substitution level. IDY will provide overall more consistent performance than CY and it also has a much longer shelf life. A good many of us here have transitioned to IDY. I for one, can't even tell you when I last used CY.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There's your problem. If the flour is NOT malted in some way at the mill you need to bake your pizzas at temperatures over 750F/399C if you expect to get any crust color on your pizzas.
All is not lost though, you can either add a small amount of diastatic (enzyme active) malt (about 0.25% of a 20L diastatic malt powder, if you cannot get that let us know what you have access to and one of use here can tell you how much to use. You can also just add some sugar to the dough formula. At your oven temperature I'd suggest 3% sugar for starters to see if that gives you a decent crust color.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

One other thing, it looks like the final proof was too dry and or the dough absorption was too low for your specific flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Not too bad for the first horse out of the gate.
The next time you make them form then with blunt ends and allow to final proof for a longer time.
Here is the correct way to form them:
Form the dough piece into a rectangle about 10-inches wide and 1/4-inch thick, fold the two ends so they just touch in the middle, and roll up like a jelly roll, set aside (seam side down) to rest for a few minutes, then roll them under your palms to 8-inches in length, place onto pans for final proofing with the seam side down. Note: If the dough doesn't roll well LIGHTLY dampen the work surface with water and lightly moisten your hands. Like everything else, practice will make perfect.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The main factors are:
Maximize dough absorption.
Optimize dough fermentation.
Open the dough into a skin by hand and do it properly.
Correct baking temperature for the type of crust being made.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The top crust doesn't look like it has much color either. Are you using a "00" flour?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Re-read.."immediately before you place it in the oven".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

"Purdy, purdy, purdy"! 
Try mixing at low speed to incorporate the ingredients for about 2-minutes, then go to the next higher speed for the actual development of the dough. Be sure to mix the dough to a point where its "JUST" beginning to take on a smooth appearance.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Warm water? Hand warm water 
In all of the testing that we did with our students we found that "hand warm" water was actually too warm/hot. Your skin temperature is just under 98.6F so "warm" would be even hotter. Typical dough water temperature is around 75F. There is a possibility that your dough temperature is too hot which results in a sticky dough condition at the very least. Time to break out the old thermometer. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Let us know how it turns out with the higher yeast level. Be sure to make a few diagonal "French" cuts across the top of each bun immediately before you place it in the oven as this will allow for more uniform expansion of the dough, especially with the high yeast level.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

IDY does need to be per-hydrated when the dough is to be mixed by HAND, but it is not necessary when the dough is to be mixed by MACHINE. Also, IDY does not need to be activared as ADY does. Notice that I said to suspend it in a small portion of 95F water, as soon as the yeast is suspended it can be added to the dough water (you don't need to wait 10-minutes to activate the IDY as you do for ADY)
Details, details, details! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Ditch the "eyeballing" suspend the yeast in a known quantity of water and subdivide. For example, if you want 0.5-gram of yeast just put 1-gram into 99-grams of water (95 to 100F) stir well to suspend the yeast, then measure 50-grams of the suspension and you will have something very close to 0.5-gram of yeast. Be sure to include the water in the suspension as part of the total dough water.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

NO! Use IDY at only 40% of the CY amount (weight). To use the IDY just add it dry right on top of the flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What kind of mixer are we talking about? A picture of the mixer and mixing attachment would be helpful.
Also, how are you mixing the dough? Speed and time? What is the finished (mixed) dough temperature?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

From what is being described, I have only seen something like this once before and it was the result of a very hot and weak dough.
We really need to see your dough formula and dough management procedure and be sure to include the dough temperature after mixing and at points along the way. If your dough is getting to a temperature of 90F/32.2C or more at any time this would validate the above as a potential cause.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

First of all, it doesn't appear that you are suspending the IDY in a small portion of 95F water prior to addition to the dough. Second, you don't say if you are covering the container when you place it in the fridge (you should oil the top of the dough and leave it UNCOVERED until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50 to 55F (I normally target 50F, just be consistent with the temperature), after the dough ball reaches the targeted temperature cover it and kiss it good night. When removing the dough from the fridge you should leave it in the fermentation container (still covered) and allow the dough balls to warm to 55 to 60F (internal sough ball temperature) before opening them into skins.
Try these changes to your process and let us know if you see any improvement.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

While some will use a "bubble popper" to deflate the bubbles as they begin to form (my bubble popper is nothing more than a piece of 6.5-mm diameter aluminum rod with a 90 degree bend on one end leaving a 50-mm leg which I ground a point on, the other end is bent into a "U" shape to form a handle). Most pizzerias will have one of these hanging near their oven for use just in case a bubble might get out of hand. Some will also address the bubble issue from a dough formula/dough management procedure aspect. In your specific case, while you didn't provide any information on actual dough temps, I tend to agree that the issue might be due to an over fermented dough condition. To test this theory make another dough using a 25% reduction in total fermentation time. To do this just reduce the fermentation time by 25% at each of the fermentation stages. If you see an improvement you can fine tune the fermentation further, if not we will have to look at things from a different perspective but we'll need to know what the dough looks like after each fermentation stage as well as internal dough temps from mixing until you're ready to open the dough into skins for dressing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There are those here that might be willing to do a DIY home root canal for those characteristics! 
But since you asked;
Mix the dough for an additional 3-minutes.
Reduce the dough absorption by 5%
Reduce the yeast by 25%
With these changes you should see more of a bread like crumb structure in your finished crusts.
With all of that said, it would help to know what your present dough formula and dough management procedure is, but lacking that information give the above a try and let us know if you see any improvement.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've also got a good Hoagie bun formula and procedure posted in the Recipe Bank at the PMQ web site <www.pmq.com>.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In preparation for your experiments to improve your pizza I would highly suggest that you first purchase a good electronic scale that can be used to weigh your ingredients allowing you to convert your "recipe" into a dough formula based on actual weight measures as opposed to volumetric portions. Also pick up a simple dial/stem type thermometer as it will come in handy for setting your water temperature and measuring dough temperature. With these two handy tools you'll be ready to have fun getting the finished pizza characteristics that you're looking for.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The stickiness was most likely the result of the hand kneading process which resulted in an under mixed dough condition. You might try using an autolyze made with all of the water and 75% of the flour. Allow it to hydrate the flour for 1-hour and then add the remainder of the dough ingredients and begin your hand mixing and kneading process.
Without knowing more about your dough formula and process that's about the best advice I can offer for now.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, just mix the dough until it begins to take on a smooth appearance, the amount of mixing you put into the dough will have no impact upon the toughness/chewiness of the finished crust BUT it can/will impact how the dough handles. By the way, I've never had to proof a pan dough for more than about 75-minutes on the outside, most are in the 45 to 60-minute range. If I'm in a pizzeria where we're making a lot of pizzas we proof for only about 20-minutes and then take to the cooler where they continue to proof to the required height and then go into hibernation until needed, this way we can use them directly from the cooler. That's how P.H. used to make all of their pan pizzas at one time so it's not a new process. If your yeast level is too low it's possible that you can end up with a dreaded gum line just under the sauce which is why we don't like to manage fermentation by reducing the yeast level.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Proofing comes after the dough is placed into the pan, I think you are referring to fermentation?
The very first item on my list of suggested changes was indeed "longer fermentation " time.
Due to the higher protein content the dough will require a higher dough absorption and you will still need to allow the dough to ferment for a longer time to help "mellow" condition/break down, some of that protein, failure to do so will result in a dough that is tougher, more elastic and harder to work with. It will also exhibit more dough memory characteristics when you are trying to shape the dough to the pan. With proper adjustments to the dough formula and dough management procedure you can get your All Trumps flour to perform similarly to the 11% protein all purpose flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Absolutely! The temperature rise is due to the heat of metabolism resulting in a temperature gain of approximately 1F per hour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Dough "recipes" based on volumetric portions such as teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, coffee cans, etc., typically have to be modified in some way when increasing or decreasing the size of the dough/recipe but dough "formulas" which are expressed in bakers percent and based on weight measurements such as pounds, ounces, kilograms, grams, etc., can be easily manipulated in size without any dough formulation changes. This is but one reason why the majority of pizza makers here work with dough formulas as opposed to dough recipes.
If you want to learn more about bakers percent I'm sure a search of archived posts will provide additional information, I've also written articles of the use of bakers percent too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Stainless steel like the one in the lower right hand corner. DO NOT take the donuts off of the screen, instead place the donuts and screen all into the frying fat (about 100-mm deep, the donuts will float off of the screen on their own, then use your frying sticks to turn the donuts. If you put handles onto the screen you can just lift the screen out with the handles and the donuts come along for the ride, allow to dip for a minute (literally) and apply glaze to the donuts (they should still be so hot as to be unpleasant to hold in your hand).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Not that I'm aware of.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The A.T. flour is one of the highest protein flours we typically work with as it is 14+% protein content.  Not knowing the protein content of your AP flour (the nutritional panel on the bag will give you a good indication of what it is) I can't be too specific on the changes but I would expect the following:
Longer fermentation time.
Increased fat level.
Increase in dough absorption.
More rest times or a longer rest time needed when fitting the dough into the pan.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A small amount of sugar will provide a very slight increase in the fermentation rate, but after that it will slow it down but sustain the yeast for a longer fermentation time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

IDY, ADY and CY all perform essentially the same when used at the correct substitution levels so there is no real difference between them. Many people prefer to use IDY due to its ease of use, long shelf life, and uniformity. Mixing times normally run around 8 to 10-minutes but this is HIGHLY variable and dependent upon the type of mixer being used as well as the type of agitator the mixer is equipped with.
Just mix the dough until it begins to take on a smooth appearance, that's all the mixing you need for a pizza dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you have ADY pre-hydrate and activate it prior to addition to the dough. Put the ADY in about 5 times its weight of 100F water (use a thermometer), stir to suspend the yeast in the water and allow to activate for 10-minutes, then stir well and add to the dough water, rinse out the container in the dough water too and you're ready to go.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

To replace ADY with CY use twice as much CY.
By the way, the ADY really should be pre-hydrated and activated in 100F water prior to addition to the dough to get the best performance from it. IDY can be added just like CY, just add it right on top of the flour as long as you are machine mixing, if you're hand mixing the IDY needs to be pre-hydrated in 95F water (no need to activate) prior to addition to the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I agree with Foreplease, that the dough balls needed more rest time. Whenever you encounter something like that just step back and give the dough more time, it will eventually relax and open very easily.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I think I'll rack this one up to another "Don't believe everything you read on the internet". You use a fridge, at accepted refrigeration temperatures (34 to 40F) because you want to significantly slow the rate of fermentation to allow holding the dough in a viable condition for a period of time (hours to days). Due to the insulating properties of the dough placing it in the fridge will not just immediately stop the fermentation process like turning off a light switch, but it will significantly slow it allowing for gradual fermentation as well as time for the acids and enzymes associated with the fermentation process to work on the dough to develop flavor. The higher the storage temperature the faster the fermentation rate. A wine fridge at 50F WILL NOT slow fermentation as well as a refrigerator at 38F. This doesn't mean that a wine fridge cannot be used to store dough in, it certainly can, just like you can store the dough at room, temperature if you want to BUT the dough has to be specifically formulated to allow for this, just like you have to specifically formulate the dough if you want to hold it at room temperature. One also has to be cognizant of the fact that when the dough is fermented at different temperatures you will get a different flavor imparted to the finished product. Remember that temperature is the "driver" of fermentation, all things equal, the higher the temperature the faster the rate of fermentation, that's a fact of life, and it also explains why the dough showed more signs of advanced fermentation when stored in the wine cooler (50F) than it did previously when stored in the fridge after the same fermentation time.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Can you mix your dough at a higher speed? At a higher speed centrifugal force will pull the dough off of the hook providing better mixing action.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Dough is typically a bit more sticky and may tend to tear a bit more but otherwise manageable.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The yeast is for leavening and the L-cysteine is for making a dough that is easy to mix and exhibits little or no dough memory/snap-back when opening the dough into a skin without any real fermentation time on the dough. If it were me, I'd have formulated that product using glutathione aka dead yeast instead of L-cysteine, that way it would not have shown up on the label, or at the very least it would have had to be labeled as containing both live and dead yeast cultures, either way it would sound a lot more consumer friendly.
Probably wouldn't hurt to have a few packets of this stuff on hand just in case you want to experiment with making a short time dough, like a equal amounts of the Pizza Yeast and regular yeast in conjunction with a total fermentation time of 4 to 8-hours as opposed to 24 or more hours.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

31 and you got feed back. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Regardless of how long the dough was mixed, it is still under mixed. Do you have a plain "J" aka "C" hook or do you have a reverse spiral dough arm for your mixer? Unless you have a reverse spiral dough arm you may never be able to mix a small size dough and achieve any significant level of gluten development. Remember, you should not go by a time recommendation, instead always mix just until the dough begins to take on a smooth appearance.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'd like to help you but I really need to know what you are presently doing so I can make some effective recommendations. Please provide your complete dough formula and dough management procedure (be sure to include all times, temperatures, dough weights and pizza sizes). In any deck oven the best you are going to get is about a 7 to 8-minute bake, and this might be stretching it a bit.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You should not be proofing the donuts on paper, this is why we always proof our donuts on a tight mesh 6mm X 6mm wire screen as this allows for air circulation to the bottom side of the dount. I also think you would be better served having more oil in the frying wok. The donuts DO look a lot better now! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When you say the dough was hard to open, in what way was it hard to open? From your pictures it looks as if it should have been pretty easy to open at 24-hours. You also mention that you mixed the dough until it came together as a ball but it appears that you did not mix it until the dough just began to take on a smooth appearance, this would explain a sticky dough off of the mixer and the roughness as well as tearing seen in the first dough ball picture. If you are experiencing an excessively soft and weak dough condition it is entirely possible that your starter is stronger than you might think it is so you would need to use less to compensate for this.
Also, regarding your dough formula, when showing the ingredient percentages you should be showing the total dough absorption percent in bakers percent. You are showing it in "true %" but not in bakers %. Bakers % for absorption = total weight of all water added to the dough divided by the total flour weight in the dough (do not include the flour in the starter) X 100.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A lump or ball of dough will not cool down very well at all, especially if it is HOT. I suggest flattening the dough out as much as possible making it thinner and with a greater surface area, it will cool faster and more thoroughly thus preventing more damage to the dough due to over fermentation.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Go to Italy and/or Egypt and start a sourdough starter using spelt (the most commonly used grain in the region in "ancient" times), and hopefully whatever you get growing will be similar to what might have been fed to those who were building the pyramids, or painting pictures on walls, but keep in mind that environmentally, things have changed over the last 2,000-years or so it's still going to be a bit of a crap shoot if you end up with something original or not.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We made them all the time, just use a HIGH COLOR CHEDDAR CHEESE POWDER and add it right on top of the flour just like any other dry ingredient, then mix the dough in the normal manner. I'm betting that you didn't add the necessary additional water to compensate for the dry cheese powder..right? I don't remember what the water correction was for the cheese powder but you can determine it for yourself very easily by placing a known weight in a small bowl and SLOWLY adding water while stirring JUST until a thick paste is formed, then divide the weight of water added by the weight of the cheese powder and multiply by 100. This will give you the percent additional water to add based on the weight of cheese powder you're adding. For the product that we were using 5 to 8% worked pretty well for us.
By the way, this is the same cheese powder that is used on Cheetos. When you look at it you will say  "No Way!" the stuff is almost fluorescent, but trust me, nothing else will give you the color you're looking for. Flavor, like you said, it ani't nothin' to write home to Mama about.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In that case I think this may be your best approach;
Prepare a sponge (50% of the flour and 50% of the total dough absorption/water weight plus 1/3 of the total yeast). Use 70F/21C water, mix for 4-minutes (target temperature is 75 to 78F/23.8 to 25.5C) and set aside to ferment at room temperature for 4-hours.
Add fermented sponge to the mixing bowl along with the other ingredients (except for the oil), mix at low speed for 2-minutes and add the oil gradually, continue mixing at low speed for another minute then mix at medium speed for 5 to 8-minutes or just until the dough takes on a smooth appearance.
From this point process the dough as you normally do.
Note:
I do not recommend using semolina flour or any of the "additives" mentioned at this time.
If you want the dough to proof/rise faster in the pan increase the dough temperature, do not increase the yeast any more than what it already is. 5% CY is a LOT of yeast.
Your dough as you have presented is is severely lacking in fermentation which is why I'm suggesting the use of a fermented sponge to provide additional flavor and dough conditioning.
If you need more crust color you will need to increase the sugar level (see my previous recommendation).
You are baking your pizzas at 500F,if you are trying to make a pizza similar to P.J.s have you tried using 450F like P.J. s does?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thar's the reason why I like to ball immediately after mixing, place into box, wipe the top of the dough balls with oil and place them directly into the cooler/fridge. Once the dough has proofed like that it is hard to cool it down at a consistent rate so you end up with fermentation varied all over the board.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Three things come to mind here;
1) Diameter of baking container (skillet/Dutch oven, not sure which you're using) as compared to the inside dimensions of the oven chamber.
2) Bottom heat only. Bread typically does not like to be baked with a lot of bottom heat (you just found that out) 
3) Bad door seals allowing too much heat to escape from the oven.

Assuming you didn't use a shoe horn to get the pan in the oven we can set that one aside for now unless you have something to add?
Your IR thermometer should tell you if the door seals are sealing as they should, let's assume they are.
That leaves the bottom heat only explanation (#2). Here is a test for that theory, move one of the racks to a high position (hopefully you have more than one rack in your oven?) place some bricks/stones/ anything that will absorb a lot of heat and release and release it back into the oven. Preheat the oven (you will need to make sure the bricks, etc. are fully up to temperature) then place the bread in the oven and turn the temperature down to 400F. Allow the bread to bake (I'm guessing 20-minutes?) undisturbed before checking it. If you see any kind of improvement (no charred bottom and at least some top crust color) this would be an indication that you're on the right track. If not we'll need to rethink. When I used to make camp bread using my Dutch oven I used to put some hot coals on top of the lid to get the necessary top heat for crust color development.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Moneeb;
I see a number of issues here with what you are doing. The dough formula is out of balance as is the dough management procedure for a P.J. style of deep-dish pizza.
Here is your dough formula in bakers percent along with suggested changes:
Flour: 100%
C.Y.: 5% (reduce to 1%18-grams)
Water: 55.5% (adjust temperature to 60F/15.5C)
Oil: 5.5%
Salt: 1.38% (increase to 2%/36-grams)
Sugar: 0.5% (increase to 3%/54-grams)

Suggested changes to your dough management procedure:
Immediately after mixing cut into desired weight pieces, form into balls, lightly oil each dough ball and place into individual plastic bread type bags, pull the bag slightly snug to the dough ball and twist the open end into a pony tail, tuck the pony tail under the dough ball as you place it in the cooler to cold ferment for at least 24-hours. Remove from cooler and allow the temper AT (AT) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F/10C, roll the bag down around the dough ball and invert the bag allowing the dough ball to fall onto a floured surface, flour both sides of the dough ball and shape to fit the pan, place into a dark colored, deep-dish pan that has been well oiled, cover the pans and allow to final proof/tide until the dough has risen about 1/2-inch/12.5-mm, then place in the fridge for storage until needed. Note: The panned dough will not keep from one day to the next. You can incorporate any left over risen dough into fresh dough if the amount does not exceed 15% of the fresh dough weight, ot you can make it into another product like bread sticks or garlic knots.
Question: What is a "convertible" conveyor belt oven? Do you mean an air impingement oven?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Peter;
Now's the time to give it a "whirl". Even if it ends up looking like the dog chewed your hair off nobody will even notice, that seems to be the new fashionable look today, and if anybody should comment, just tell them its the new "social distancing" look. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

12% protein should work OK for you. Cover = apples: Uncovered = bagels
When you make them be sure to cover a few to see for yourself.
I was once on the precipice of being charged with manslaughter during one of our bagel classes after I asked one of our students to take a full rack of just formed bagel dough to the retarder/cooler, little did I know that when he did so he also covered all of the racks of dough with rack bags, by the following morning the hole has all but disappeared and when they baked they actually rolled over! Being the instructor I had to retain my composure so we made it into a "learning lesson", not wanting to lose several hundred bagels I said, "Let's try something different to see what happens",  I fired up one of our air impingement ovens (375F) and we baked a few of the "bagel bombs) just to see what would happen. You have heard me say many times that we can learn from our mistakes as well as our successes, well those bagels turned out ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL, great shape (small hole more like a steamed bagel) but otherwise great! If there was a complaint or fault with the bagels it was with the color/appearance of the bagels after baking, they had a bright shine (more like that on a pretzel) and they looked almost like a plastic bagel. We found out later that this was the first successful baking of bagels in an air impingement oven. Why? Because prior to this everyone was following the correct dough management for making bagels. It's ironic that both bagels and pretzels are theorized to have been made accidentally when the baker's formed dough piece/pieces fell off of the oven peel and landed in the bucket of water used to swab out the oven. So another accident took the bagel to yet another level.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've sported a full beard (for over 20-years now) and a flat top (something you don't see too often these days) since the 60's. Many barbers today don't even know how to cut a flat top so I'm getting ready to change over to a crew cut when my flat top gets too shaggy. When I do, that'll probably be the end of my visits to a barber shop.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

To use powder in place  of syrup use 80% as much powder as syrup. Like the name implies it's a "basic formula", sure, you can add some non-diastatic malt powder to replace the sugar in the dough formula if you want to, not a problem.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

N.Y. style kettled bagels are typically made using a high protein content flour (13 to 14+%) which provides both the shape as well as the chewy eating characteristics. I've personally never made bagels using a "00" flour but there are many different types of "00" flour as well as the GM "00" type that you have. What is the protein content of your flour? That should tell a big part of the story.
Here is a basic bagel dough formula.
Flour: 100%
Salt:2%
Sugar: 0.6%
Water: 53%
Yeast (CY) 0.75%
Mix: Mix in low speed for 2-minutes then in 2nd. speed if possible for about 10-minutes, if this is not possible mix for about 16-minutes in low speed. The dough is going to be VERY TOUGH.
Targer finished dough temperature is 76 to 78F.
Take the dough to the bench, remove from bowl and allow to rest for 5-minutes.
Then scale into 3-ounce pieces. After all of the dough is scaled begin shaping each piece into a rope about 6 to 7-inches long, wrap around your first three fingers to form a ring, then seal the two ends together (you can do this by rolling the formed bagel on the bench with the seam facing down. Place onto pans heavily dusted with corn meal, and place in the fridge for 24-hours (DO NOT, DO NOT COVER IN ANY WAY).
Remove the formed bagels from the fridge and allow to set AT room temperature for 20 to 30-minutes (DO NOT OVER PROOF).
Carefully place proofed bagels into boiling water to which 2.5% non-diastatic malt syrup has been added (2.5% based on the weight of the boiling water). The bagels will sink to the bottom of the water pot but should float in about 30-seconds. Allow bagels to boil for 30-seconds on each side then remove from the water using a screen or slotted spoon and place into a cold water bath for a few seconds, remove from the cold water and place onto an oiled parchment paper lined pan (a perforated pan is preferred, but lacking that you can bake on a solid oven deck or on a large pizza screen covered with the oiled parchment paper. Toppings can be applied at the time the bagels are about to be placed into the oven for baking. The bagels should be baked at 400F for about 20 to 25-minutes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The only real way to determine maximum dough absorption is by conducting a series of test bakes with each bake identical with the exception of a progressively higher dough absorption for each dough. I recommend increasing the dough absorption in increments of 2% until you reach a level where you either cannot handle the dough anymore or the dough fails to perform at giving you the finished product characteristics you're looking for.
The "W" factor has little to do with it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It really doesn't require much at all, what you are probably observing is the effect of pressure on the dough which inhibits its height in the container. A larger size container will not demonstrate this as well as a smaller size container (assuming the same amount of dough in both containers and all things equal).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What it boils down to is that in our own homes we can pretty well do whatever we please, and if we get sick, well that's our problem but if you're a commercial food establishment let's see? How many people could you potentially sicken, or perhaps worse? That's where the issue is at.
When I was a kid growing up on the farm we used to make potato salad all the time, we never refrigerated it, just laid a towel over the bowl on the table for the next meal, think about that..POTATO SALAD! Most every summer I would get what we called the "summer flu", it wasn't pleasant but I always managed to live through it. It wasn't until I took my first class in food pathogens and food safety that I found out that it wasn't a summer flu (whatever that is) that I had, it was a plain and simple case of food poisoning, most likely due to staphlococcus aureus (staphlococcal food poisoning). It wasn't a big deal and it never made the headlines but today, if that were to happen in any food establishment we would be reading about it in headlines, that's the type of publicity that a food establishment really doesn't want which is why they usually do their best to take the necessary precautions to prevent this from happening.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yes, that's why yeast raised donut doughs are only bulk fermented for 1-hour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Have you tried putting it on later in the bake?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We used to call them "pizza rolls". We make a variation of this at AJ's using just a piece of cheese and call them "cheese bricks". We got the idea from the Totino's Pizza Rolls back in the 60's.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The enzymes and acids in the sourdough starter denature the proteins and while it is true that salt will strengthen the gluten forming proteins if they have been denatured there is nothing left to strengthen. True, all of the protein has not been denatured so you will get some strengthening, but probably not as much as you might be hoping for.
You might try adding 2 or 3% vital wheat gluten to see if that helps any.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

This is one of those cases where dark is good and darker is even better!
Don't worry, you're good to go! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Ascorbic acid is very quickly converted to dehydro-ascorbic acid which is an oxidant, muck like ADA (azodicarbonamide, or potassium bromate) but much faster acting. How fast? It has fully reacted before the dough leaves the mixing bowl, so look at AA as an acid in this application, instead focus on Lactic Acid, Acetic Acid, Citric Acid, Fumeric Acid, and the like.
After mixing the dough, how much fermentation (at what temperature) do you give the dough balls before opening into skins?
You friend is correct about both mixing (mix just until the dough begins to smooth out, and don't try to make cannon balls out of the dough when rounding)
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Rolls;
If you watch the dough being mixed in a food processor the blades do cut through the dough but at the same time the dough is being rolled around/moved, otherwise the dough would eventually be pureed. Additionally, those gluten strands that we talk about are really quite small and bond back together again very rapidly. This is the reason why doughs that are made by high speed mixing processes tend to be a little tacky or some might say sticky immediately after mixing but literally within seconds take on a more normal feel.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A man after my own heart! Use math!
3.9524 6-inch pizzas, you will have to decide who gets the one with less dough in the crust. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What it sounds like you're experiencing is what we call a "bucky" dough condition. While acids do indeed break down proteins, there is a point in the degradation of the protein where just before fully relaxing they tighten up (think of it like a muscle cramp) making the dough all but impossible to do anything with. At this point the only salvation for the dough is to put it back into the mixer and remix the dough which seems to help quite a bit.
Now, if by "tenacious" you mean the dough was pliable but exhibited a lot of memory (snap back) but didn't exhibit any major tearing when trying to open it, a condition like that would be more indicative of an under fermented dough. This could be due to a number of things but my first suspicion would be a poor performing sourdough starter. A good way to test for this would be to make another dough using the same starter but increase the amount of starter added to the dough by at least 25%. My experience has been that plastic starters (like sponges) do not acidify as well or as quickly as a liquid starter does. This is because the flour is more concentrated and it is the flour that tends to buffer the system from pH change as measured by TTA (titratable acidity). You'll have the same acids present just in less quantity and quantity is what it's all about.
As for hard water v/s soft water, we have discussed this topic many times. The calcium content in hard water acts to strengthen the gluten forming proteins in wheat flour, it also acts as a buffer to pH change. These changes are not dramatic but they are there. In commercial operations where we have stores or bakeries in different areas or municipalities with variances in hard and soft water we adjust for this by including 0.25% calcium sulfate in all of the dough formulas by doing this regardless of the hardness of the water being used, the dough reacts in the same manner as if all of the water was hard water.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

From a functional standpoint the addition of diastatic malt to to a dough made with a malted flour is a moot issue, however if the flour you're using is not malted the addition of diastatic malt to the dough will help to improve the fermentation of the dough by converting some of the starch into sugar as a nutrient for the yeast to feed upon, it will also provide a significant contribution to the crust color of the baked product. The amount to add will vary with the strength (degree L/lintner value) of the diastatic malt product. Addition of excessive diastatic malt can result in a gummy crumb texture.
Non-diastatic (non-enzyme active) malt is really just another type of sugar that can be added to the dough. It is unique from other sugars in that it can provide a very unique "malty" (think malted milk balls/candy) at higher levels or a more subdued flavor at lower levels.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael;
Actually they have found that wood has certain anti-microbial properties while those scratches in the plastic are difficult to clean and constitute harborage for the bacteria.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

When making large quantities of dough, the same container is almost universally used for both mixing and fermentation, unless you're taking hours to mix your dough the crust that forms on the bowl will not be so hard so as to br impossible to incorporate back into the dough.
The VCM (vertical cutter mixer) doesn't chop the gluten strands into little pieces, it does a fine job of developing the gluten. Horizontal versions of the VCM are used in some commercial bread making applications where thousands of pounds of bread dough are produced every day. The only problem with the smaller (vertical VCMs ) is that they have no provision for cooling the dough so as multiple doughs are mixed the bowl needs to be periodically cooler using ice water or the friction created during the mixing process will drive the dough temperatures through the roof. Also, since dough mixing times are very short in the VCM it is VERY EASY to over mix a dough. Considering that a normal mixing time for a bread type dough is about 70-seconds you can see how 10-seconds can make a big difference. Pizza doughs are mixed even less! The same applies to the food processor when it comes to mixing the dough but but the mixing times will be different.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It keeps as well as any regular flour BUT whole-wheat flour is a totally DIFFERENT matter with a room temperature shelf life of 2 to 3-weeks on the outside. Refrigerated or frozen not a problem. The issue is with the germ/germ oil that's present, it is not very stable at all wanting to go rancid at the drop of a hat.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We have some good charts here that will serve t guide you in determining how much yeast to use when fermenting under specific temperature conditions.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Like I said, "If it doesn't kill us it just makes us stronger". 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Oops! I misread your post, thought you were wanting to freeze the starter.
There is no need to vacuum seal the frozen dough. It should be able to be frozen in a home freezer for up to 2-weeks without too much of an issue, after that you're on your own as viability becomes quite inconsistent.
To thaw the frozen dough, remove it from the freezer, unwrap and place into suitably sized container (lightly oiled), cover (but not air tight) and place in the fridge to thaw overnight, on the following day bring it from the fridge and allow to warm just until you can easily handle the dough then treat it just like you would fresh dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If it contains water it is part of the total dough absorption equation.
How are you using the simple syrup?
As for adding the sugar later in the mixing process, it sounds like you have a coarse granulation sugar that doesn't dissolve too readily. Can you get a finer/smaller particle size sugar?
You might also try adding half (5%) of the sugar right up front as this will not significantly interfere with gluten development and then add the second half about half way through the mixing process, then after mixing, allow the dough to rest for 10-minutes (this will give the late addition sugar a chance to further hydrate) and then mix/knead for an additional minute or so.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There was a M.A.S.H. (television series) episode where someone had stepped onto what was thought to be a land mine..Oops! Turned out to be the lid of a buried kimchi pot. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We used to have cloth (canvas) sleeves in all of our overhead intermediate bread proofers but alas, no more due to the sanitation issues. Ditto for bagel boards too. The "kicker" is that some of the required stuff is actually worse than the cloth or wood! For example, wood bagel boards and bench tops are actually more sanitary than the "plastic" they dictate that we use today. To the best of my knowledge there was never a problem with cloth or wood (wet/damp cloth is a different story) but there was always a "potential" for a problem, if we went through life thinking about what might potentially happen we would never get out of bed in the morning, but then a car might "potentially" crash into your house hitting your bedroom and you, safe and secure bed, sometimes ya just can't win! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Active cultures are commercially preserved by freezing but at much lower temperatures than you can do at home (-20 to -45F) but you can still freeze it as a means of preservation but because it is an active culture there is not real way of telling just how long it will remain viable. An interesting test would be to freeze it in an ice cube tray, individually package enough cubes to make a dough and then begin test baking at 30-day? intervals to see how well it holds up in your home freezer. Be sure to make and document (pictures) a control made with the sourdough before freezing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you want to do a Korean or Asian themed pizza try using sesame oil and put some sesame seeds on the rim of the crust before baking (brush the edge with 1-egg white whipped into 1-pint of water, this will be a binder to hold the sesame seeds in place on the crust). If you use a pan or disk put the seeds on the pan/disk so they get baked into the dough..delicious!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The yeast was released for commercial testing (I cannot disclose much more than that). To see if there were any of what we fondly refer to as "hidden" issues which are brought to light only with long term testing. I had planned to meet with the manufacturer at Pizza Expo this year (the only meeting I had time for) but we all know how that turned out, so I'm, going to have to make a telephone call to see where they're at with the yeast. When I looked at it originally I encountered a couple of little idiosyncrasies that I had not planned on but we were able to overcome those pretty quickly so I think it holds a lot of promise.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We used it in combination with dried squid on pizza in preparation for the Asian Games in Seoul a number of years ago. We didn't have much of a selection in cheese so we just used a mozzarella cheese which was available there at the time. When combined with fresh vegetables the dried squid came across a lot like a mild version of anchovy. When the kimchi was added up front it lost too much of its character but when we added it right at the end of the bake it was delicious!
I've not made any Korean themed pizzas for a very long time, you've got me to thinking now that when the garden comes in I might run over to one of our excellent Korean food stores (Fort Riley is very close by and has several excellent Korean grocery stores (just like the one shown in the last episode) so kimchi is always easy for me to get.
Damn! If we didn't have this "stay home" order in place and if the restaurants were open we could go out for some Korean dinner, oh well, maybe another day.   
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yael;
We did a study a number of years ago on kitchen sanitation using the homes of a randomly selected group of our own employees. We did swab tests in the kitchen as well as the main bathroom, what we found was very interesting to say the least! The most dangerous room in the average house (from a microbial stand point) was the KITCHEN! The #1 offender was the kitchen towel and the #2 offender was the counter top. Based on this we looked at the "chef's" towel, the one that our  television chefs love to wear at their waist. We found that it was a literal petri-dish of bacteria (moist and warm). Based on this we stopped using them at AIB and we included it in our instruction materials as well as restaurant audits. I keep thinking of the old adage "That which doesn't kill us will just make us stronger". There must be something to it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

She does seem to come across as pretty arrogant but so do a lot of other "chefs" so I just dismiss that. I did like the first show on dumplings, I'm planning to make some cherry soup this summer with dumplings so it was of more than a passing interest to me. The second show on pickles and sauerkraut was also interesting as I was raised on a German farm, need I say more?
And I might add that I developed a special fondness for Korean Kimchi during my many trips to Korea, I like to refer to it as Korean sauerkraut. I still remember when flying into Kimpo International Airport and making the final approach and looking out the window and seeing all those kimchi pots on the roof tops, GOOD STUFF! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The type or amount of yeast used has nothing to do with the dough yield. The amount of yeast used can be varied as a means of regulating the amount of fermentation the dough receives during a period of time under specific temperature conditions. For example an emergency dough that will be ready to make pizzas from in a matter of a couple to a fer hours will contain significantly more yeast than a dough which will be fermented at room temperature for an extended period of time at room temperature. If the dough that is to be fermented for a long period of time at room temperature were made with the same yeast level as the emergency dough it would be extremely over fermented (excessively weak and have poor oven spring properties to name but a few of the over fermented characteristics). The three main types of yeast that are used are Compressed yeast (CY) aka fresh yeast/block yeast/wet yeast; Active dry yeast (ADY) aka dry yeast; and Instant dry yeast (IDY) aka instant yeast/bread machine yeast/quick rise yeast. Each of these yeast types are handled differently. CY can be crumbled and added directly into the flour or it can be suspended in the dough water with no special handling precautions, that's the good news, the bad news is that it must be kept under refrigeration and it is perishable with a shelf life that can range from a week or so to a few weeks depending upon the age of the yeast and the storage conditions. ADY is essentially the same yeast as CY but it has been dried to a lower moisture content for storage stability, because of this there is more leavening power pound for pound in ADY than there is in CY, thus to achieve fermentation similar to that of CY the ADY must be used at a lower level (lesser amount). The substitution for using ADY to replace CY is to use 50% of the CY as ADY (use 1/2 as much ADY as CY). IDY is again essentially the same as CY but it has been made using a different drying process and it has been dried to a moisture contet even lower than that of ADY making it the most concentrated of the three on a pound for pound basis. When replacing CY with IDY the substitution is to use only 38% as much IDY as CY to get equivalent fermentation.
Is there a difference in performance of finished crust flavor between the three different yeast types? No, they have been engineered to have essentially identical performance characteristics.
Why one over the other? Convenience and shelf life stability. CY can be added to the dough very easily without any special handling or addition methods BUT it is quite perishable and must be kept refrigerated for the duration of its somewhat limited shelf life. ADY has a rather long shelf life (6-months unopened) but may be shorter after opening, on the down side it must be pre-hydrated and activated in 100F water prior to addition to the dough. IDY has a very long shelf life (1 to 2-years unopened and 30-days or more after opening), it is also easy to use as it does not require pre-hydration and activation prior to addition to the dough, instead it is just added (dry) right on top of the flour. The one exception to this is when the dough will be mixed by hand, the IDY then needs to be pre-hydrated in 95 to 100F water BUT it does NOT require activation as the ADY does. The one cautionary note regarding IDY is that it should never be put directly into the cold dough water, to do so will damage the yeast and result in a soft dough condition with diminished or inconsistent  fermentation properties.
A quick search through the archives here will turn up quite a bit of excellent discussion on these different types of yeast.
That's it in a nutshell.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've been watching it since it first came on here (first episode here was last week/PBS).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Let's do the math..
Your dough formula calls for 10% total fat in the form of butter or margarine, both of these will consist of 80% fat and 20% water. So, in 10% butter/margarine there is 80% fat. 80% of ten is 8, so if you want to replace 10% butter or margarine with shortening you would only need to use 8% shortening, the other 2% can be added to the dough formula as additional water.
One of the problems with adding an emulsifier to a yeast raised donut dough formula is that it can result in a very gummy eating characteristic if the donut is consumed when still VERY fresh (that's when yeast raised donuts are at their best). It can also result in a higher than desired level of fat absorption.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I make all of my thick crust and pan style pizzas (including Detroit style) in my home oven as 450F using a middle rack position.
When baking in a deck oven if I encounter problems with the bottom of the pizza getting too dark I just place a pizza screen under the pan to address the problem, it's amazing what a small air gap will do 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've seen a towel used quite successfully, a dry towel I might add. The dough did not dry out at all. This was when I was in the Philippines. There is sufficient humidity in the air there (85+% R.H.) that the dough couldn't dry out if it wanted to, the towel was placed over the dough to keep the flies off of it, they are absolutely attracted to the fermentation aroma. There are places in the U.S. where you might get away with it in the summer but not in the winter too, for this reason I've always recommended that if you are going to cover your fermentation container with a towel, make it a damp towel, the moisture from the towel will help to humidify the air between the top of the dough and the towel which will go a long ways in preventing drying of the dough while its fermenting plus it will also keep the flies off of the dough. Back in the 50's it was common at pizzerias to mix a dough and leave it in the mixing bowl to ferment, the bowl was almost always covered with a wet/damp towel to keep drafts off of the dough and to prevent it from drying out. You have to remember that most pizzerias back then didn't have air conditioning so in the summer those kitchens were awfully humid and you could get away with it back then but today with air conditioning in that same shop it ain't gonna work the same way, not to mention the chatter that you're going to get from your food safety inspector.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, you didn't miss it, you're tight though, that subject is pretty far from my area of expertise. Outside of smoking some beef, venison pork and salmon and sugar curing half of a hog from time to time I don't have a clue about how commercially cured meats are made.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In bread production there is no difference in functionality between shortening and oil. There is no difference in finished moisture content of the bread either, between shortening and oil.
Fat is a tenderizer and as such it helps to provide the finished bread with a more tender eating crumb structure. Without any added fat, be if oil or shortening, the crumb will have a tough, more chewy characteristic (think of French bread) and as the amount of fat in the dough formula is increased the crumb structure will become progressively more tender eating, this is usually referred to as improved mastication properties when speaking about white pan breads where a tender eating crumb structure is a desirable characteristic. While at one time shortening used to be the most commonly used fat in white pan bead production,today oil in dome form is almost universally used due to its ability to be pumped and metered into the dough mixer(s) without the need to heat the fat or have heated delivery lines to the mixer. Just as in pizza dough production it is also common for the oil the be added to the dough after the dough has been mixed to some extent to reduce the possibility of the oil soaking into a portion of the flour thus rendering that portion of the flour incapable of producing gluten during the mixing process.
What role does any fat (oil or shortening) play in white bread production? It helps to seal the cell structure for improved gas retention resulting in improved loaf volume characteristics, it also lubricates the dough which also contributes to improved loaf volume. It provides a method to regulate the mastication properties of the finished bread. The ability of a fat to retain flavors helps to provide depth and dimension to the flavor of the finished bread while at the same time imparting a type of mouthfeel to the bread which is perceived by the consumer as "richness". Since fat also inhibits moisture migration and moisture absorption the bread is not perceived as being as dry when fat is included in the dough formulation (moisture is not drawn from the mouth as readily). This is why breads made without fat are commonly perceived as being "dry". Under certain circumstances the type and amount of fat can impact perceived crumb firmness, for example, oil is always a liquid, so if stored in a cool environment it will have essentially no impact upon the firmness of the finished loaf, on the other hand butter will recrystallize to nearly its pre-baked firmness as the loaf cools so if the loaf is stored at low temperatures (below 60F) it can result in a perceived firmer bread. This can be a critical quality aspect as many breads are frozen for distribution and then thawed at the point of sale, if the bread in not fully up to ambient store temperature when the consumer picks up the loaf they can perceive that the loaf is firmer and reject it for a softer loaf which is perceived as being fresher. The use of fat in the dough formulation can also impact the appearance of the finished loaf in that the baked crust will have a more attractive, lustrous hue to it (the color itself doesn't change but the way the crust reflects light does). Lastly the oil provides a source of enhanced lubrication for the slicer blades during the slicing and packaging operation.
Note: Butter is a standardized product so the properties of the butter can influence some of the above cited effects, for example many U.S. butters have a very narrow slip point so they go from rock hard to sloppy soft within a narrow temperature range while real Danish butter does not exhibit these characteristics, it is still soft and pliable at refrigerated temperatures while not turning soft and sloppy at elevated temperatures (this is where Danish pastry got its name from). Margarine, on the other hand, is a man made product which can be formulated for just about any application with any slip point desired which explains why it has a broad application in the U.S. baking industry. It can be formulated to mimic Danish butter, U.S. butter or it can be so soft as to allow it to be spread on fresh bread right out of the fridge while not melting into an oil at room temperature (you might know this as a "soft spread" margarine). A somewhat unique product to the bread making industry is what is referred to as a "liquid shortening", this is really nothing more than a plastic shortening to which oil has been incorporated and it usually also includes an anti-staling agent such as a blend of mono-diglycerides which work to help reduce the staling rate of the bread. Since these are usually added along with the fat it is a convenience factor to the baker to have there materials included into the liquid bread shortening.
One last thing, butter naturally has 18 to 20% water and table grade margarine, being formulated to replicate butter also has the same water content. In some applications this water has to be taken into account when calculating the total dough absorption, for the most part it isn't but at high fat levels (above 8%) many bakers will account for the water in the butter/margarine.
I probably missed a few points here but this should give you a pretty good idea of how these different fats function in a white bread system.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you were using a commercially made frozen dough it most likely contained L-cysteine (almost universally used in commercial frozen dough) which always results in a soft and very extensible dough after thawing which would explain the need for a bowl. Even non-commercially made frozen dough will suffer much of this same fate as the static freezing (freezing at temperatures above -20F) will damage the yeast cells allowing for leakage of glutathione (very similar to L-cysteine) from the cells upon thawing of the dough.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Now I understand what you are doing, I think that by twisting the open end of the bag into a pony tail and tucking it under the dough ball as you place it in the fridge will result in a more round dough ball after the 36-hour cold fermentation process, when we do it in in a pizzeria or when I do it at home getting a round shape has never been an issue as the pressure exerted by the bag forces the dough into a pretty round shape. After the CF period we just set the bagged dough balls on the side to temper AT room temperature (3-hours is a long time, with plastic bags about half of that time is more typical). The bag is then rolled down around the dough ball and the bag is inverted allowing the dough ball to fall onto a floured surface, then flour the entire dough ball and begin opening it into a skin by your preferred method.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

OK, so now my old age is creeping up on me again and I'm confused. You said you were following the referenced dough formula and procedure so I opened it and that's where I got my information from, that's what you said you were following? Putting that aside, I presume you are bagging the dough BUT you are not pulling the bag slightly snug to the dough ball and twisting the open end into a pony tail and tucking it under the dough ball as you place it in the fridge, this, to a great extent, negates one of the great advantages of bagging the dough, that is the process which I'm reading into your reply leaves a significant dead airspace within the bag, thus insulating a good deal of the dough ball and not allowing for consistent cooling of the dough ball, not to mention that it provides a space for condensation to form (not a good thing). I would suggest incorporating the above procedure into your bagging process to see if it helps, it'll provide better dough ball cooling so at least it won't hurt. You should not be putting the bagged dough balls into any kind of container, a flat sheet pan is often used by pizzerias to place the bagged dough on in their coolers but dough boxes and lidded containers are counter productive in this case. A very popular reason for bagging the dough balls is the fact that they require no further attention once they are put into the fridge/cooler, there is no cross-stacking or down-stacking associated with bagged dough balls, for me this is a great convenience factor when making dough at home.
Remember, experimenting is half of the fun, the other half is divided between learning from your experiments, eating your experiments, coming to the realization that you are rapidly making a whole new group of friends who just happen to love eating pizza as much as you do. 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you take a single mozzarella cheese and shred it to different particle sizes, from small cubes to a long shred you will see a progressively darker cheese color and the particle size diminishes (gets smaller), you will also see a significant change in the appearance of the top of the pizza as the cheese becomes more nondescript with the smaller particle size. For me, my preference is for a long, coarse shred as it gives better coverage and in my opinion, a better looking finished pizza.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There are seven recognized proteins in wheat flour but only two of them are responsible for forming what we call "gluten", these two proteins are glutenin and gliadin.
L-Cysteine hydrochloride aka L-cysteine is indeed a dough reducing agent in that it breaks the gluten bonds making for a softer, more extensible dough. Essentially all L-cysteine made today is synthesized as are many of the vitamins which are used in food production. If you cannot use L-cysteine check into using glutathione aka "dead yeast" it it 100% interchangeable with L-cysteine but is sourced directly from yeast by heating just enough to collapse the cell wall but not enough to denature the amino acid (glutathione). If yeast is acceptable glutathione will also be acceptable.
What application are you wanting to use the reducing agent in? For what purpose?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A 100-ml graduated cylinder would work I guess and you do know that there is a substitute for the balloon  but using one would probably require using a 250-ml graduated cylinder and a larger dough piece.
Or you could also fashion a simple gas trap.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I've looked at the dough formula and procedure that you have referenced and I'd like to make a couple of comments. The dough formula calls for 63% dough absorption, do you know if this is the optimum dough absorption for the flour that you are using? Flour absorption changes and it is not uncommon for the absorption to change. My guess is that the absorption might be a little on the low side so you should consider incrementally increasing the dough absorption to see if that helps. Increasing the absorption makes for a softer, more pliable dough that will typically exhibit a reduced tendency to snap back aka "dough memory".
I also see that you are using metal fermentation containers and that you are NOT cross-stacking (leaving then uncovered until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F). This is a CRITICAL aspect to effective dough management as it allows for uniform cooling of the dough and also prevents or minimizes dough sweating which in nearly every case leads to a sticky/tacky dough at the time of opening. So, in my humble opinion these should be the first things to address, then if we need to we can dig deeper to resolve the problem. There are also some deviations in the dough formula which differ from what I normally use or recommend but we can address those later if we need to.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Question #1: Yes you do. When substituting ADY for IDY you will need to use about 32% more ADY than IDY.
Question #2: IF, and that's a BIG "if" it is still as viable as it was when fresh/unopened, you would use the same amount.
An easy test to see if the yest is still viable is to make a small dough in a cereal bowl (1/2 cup flour, pinch of yeast and a pinch of sugar) Put four tablespoons of warm water (100F) in the bowl, add the IDY and stir to suspend the IDY in the water, add the sugar immediately followed by the flour and stir, add more water as needed to make a dough, using your finger, oil the inside of a shot glass, then remove a piece of the dough large enough to fill half of the glass, cover with a damp piece of paper towel and check it for growth in 30-minutes. This will tell you if the yeast is still viable or not.
Another easy test is to make a slurry of 50 ml 100F water, 1-tablespoon flour and a pinch of sugar, stir this all together and pour into a test tube (I bet you have a case of then just waiting to be used for this), and then fit a balloon over the end of the test tube, place the tube into a glass or cup about 1/2 filled with 100F water. Check the back in about an hour to see if the balloon is beginning to inflate.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you go to my web site <www.doughdoctor.com> and look under "Media" you will have access to my videos. In the last of the dough making videos we show the dough balls being opened both by using a dough sheeter to pre-open the dough and also opening it entirely by hand (similar to the first video you've referenced as wanting to learn from).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Perfect!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Rohfan;
Unless it has been upgraded to a reverse spiral dough arm (not sure if it can be) it will most likely have a very basic dough hook which you will eventually come to hate as the dough keeps riding up on the hook and doesn't get properly mixed. This tends to be more problematic with dough sizes anything less than full bowl capacity.
You will want to experiment with your mixer to see if you can mix smaller size doughs using the flat beater for a portion of the dough mixing time and then changing over to the hook and mixing at a higher speed to keep the dough from climbing up the hook. If you plan to make some of the higher absorption doughs this may not pose as great of a problem as the dough is easier to mix at a higher speed allowing centrifugal force to pull the dough off of the hook for improved mixing action. I know a number of members here have a similar problem with their K5-A so maybe they will be able to share with you what they have found to work at resolving this irksome trait of the old "J"/"C" hook design.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Most of the time the set temperature for a poolish is between 75 and 80F, it is suggested that you that the water temperature used in making the poolish be about 2F less than the targeted set temperature. I never recommend "room temperature" as there is no definition as to what it might be. For some it might mean 70F while for other it might mean 60F or as I once found out in Hermosillo, Mexico it meant over 100F/37.7C! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your best bet will be to allow the dough balls to rest, undisturbed at room temperature until they have softened sufficiently to be opened into skins without tearing. If you want to make pan pizzas using the dough just grease a dark colored, deep-dish pan with Crisco (Butter Flavored Crisco is my favorite), but margarine or lard works well too. Flatten the dough ball into a puck shape and place into the pan, drape with a piece of plastic and allow to rest for 30-minutes, then using your hands, press and stretch the dough to fit the pan, don't worry if it fights you or pulls back, just cover it back up and allow to ferment for another 30 to 45-minutes, finish shaping the dough to the pan, it should stay put this time. Cover the panned dough with the plastic again and allow to final proof for 30-minutes, you're then ready to dress and bake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

While that dough management procedure isn't designed for use with a poolish, it can be done. Use 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the water and all of the yeast in the poolish. Set temperature for the poolish should be 75 to 78F/23.9 to 25.5C, allow the poolish to ferment for 6-hours before incorporating it into the remainder of the dough ingredients.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

First off, the "window pane" test for gluten development is used for determining the proper mix for a bread dough not a pizza dough. Pizza doughs are correctly mixed when the dough JUST takes on a smooth appearance. You do not want to mix the dough more than this. Allowing the dough to ferment for an hour before balling is just asking for the dough to tear during balling, especially with a strong flour like All Trumps. My suggestion would be to just scale and ball immediately after mixing, and then manage the dough as you wish from there.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I would really need to know more about the dough to answer your question.
How long after the flour was removed from the freezer did you mix the dough?
What kind of flour are we talking about?
Protein content?
Dough absorption?
How big of a dough are we talking about?
How was it mixed, by hand or machine? If by machine for how long?
How was the dough managed?
I've got an idea but I want to narrow the field before casting my vote.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Do not use more than 24-hours CF for a T&B pizza. Adjust the dough formula by increasing the yeast level by 20% and reducing the dough absorption by at least 2% maybe more, depending upon what your present dough absorption is. Generally something in the 58 to not more than 60% range seems to work well, but again it will depend upon the flour you're using. Immediately after opening the skin place it on a silicone baking sheet and then onto a cardboard circle. Refrigerate for at least 1-hour, then dress and back into the fridge for another hour, then stretch wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Bake directly from the fridge at 425F.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yep, your problem is that you are not fermenting a sufficient amount of the flour. Kyrol flour tends to require quite a bit of fermentation to properly condition the gluten.  After making the dough, scale and ball it and cold ferment the dough balls for 48-hours. After the cold fermentation period remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to temper AT room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 60F, then begin opening the dough balls into skins. Let us know if this makes things a bit easier.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For the home pizza maker the term "cross-stacked" as indicated in my previous response, means left open/uncovered/unlidded. After the appropriate cross-stack period the dough box is lidded or covered in some manner so as to prevent drying of the dough during the fermentation period.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Let's look at an order of progression, first adjust the dough absorption to a level that works with your mixing method and dough management procedure, then based on that dough absorption begin a series of tests with progressively higher or lower absorptions to achieve the desired finished crust characteristics. All flours are not created equal, some will carry more water than others. You cannot arbitrarily plug in a high absorption, like 75% and expect that all flours will produce a dough with acceptable dough handling properties or the finished crust characteristics one is looking for. You have to find out what is correct for YOUR specific flour. When dealing with an unknown flour you always want to first get a working dough formula and procedure, then once you have that you can begin adjusting the formula and/or procedure to move it closer to giving you the characteristics you're looking for.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Sure! Just reduce the dough absorption to 60%. This is a pretty good place to bench mark just about any pizza dough formula from. Unless you have a really "off the wall" flour it will almost always give you a usable dough, you can then decide if you want to stay with 60% or adjust the amount up or down for better overall dough performance and/or finished product quality.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You'll have to excuse me but I'm a bit confused.
What ingredients were in the poolish? How much of the total flour was in the poolish? What was the temperature of the poolish?
I don't think enough of the flour is being fermented but answers to the above will tell.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Also remember that the Doughmate boxes will need to be cross-stacked (left open) until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 50F after which it can be covered/lidded. All of the other methods mentioned do NOT require this additional step in your dough management procedure which is something to consider if you will be making your dough after the sun goes down. I use the plastic bread bag method almost exclusively anymore, just bag it, put it in the fridge and forget it! 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Welcome!
There are many of us here who can help you with your endeavors. To help get you up to speed on all things pizza, there is also another web site that you will want to explore too <www.pmq.com> . There are also magazines dedicated specifically to pizza which are available through on-line subscriptions: Pizza Marketing Quarterly Magazine/www.pmq.com; and Pizza Today Magazine/www.pizzatoday.com
There are also quite a few good books on pizza production that are available from most on-line sources.
In the mean time, what is your concept for a store/pizzeria?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

HansB;
You did that just as a very competent well trained baker would do it, well versed in what we refer to as "bakers math". You think like I do. Do you have a background in the baking industry?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There is bread and there is "bread", can you be more specific as to the type of bread that you are making?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It looks like you are definitely getting a more open crumb structure. You might make another increase in the yeast level and you might also consider putting some moisture into the oven, maybe placing a pan of water in the oven before the pizza will increase the moisture content of the air within the oven to give you better oven spring. Electric ovens bake with a very dry heat as there are no products of combustion in the baking chamber as there are with wood fired ovens (water/moisture is one of those products of combustion).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

People need bread so they're thinking of making their own, what kind of flour do you buy to make bread? Bread flour! If there were a shortage of bagels they'd all be buying "bagel" flour..whatever that is? During times of shortage I've always accepted the challenge to use whatever type of flour I could get my hands on, when traveling internationally back in the 80's we couldn't always find "pizza" flour or even "bread" flour but there was always some type of wheat flour available. Sometimes it was even a composite flour consisting of 70% wheat flour and 30% fine ground domestic grains and legumes. In all cases we were able to make pizza from the flour, maybe not a New York style or a Neapolitan style, but it was a decent pizza and people liked it. The truth to the matter is that bread, pizza, bagels, pretzels, soft rolls and hard rolls can all be made from the same flour without any difficulty at all. The same goes for pizza in that it can be made from just about any kind of flour, yes you will need to make some adjustments in the way you make it but that's what learning about pizza is all about. What do you think the old pizza makers of 200-years ago in Italy did for flour? They used what they got and they learned, by trial and error, how to use it, and from the looks of the present day pizza industry they did a mighty fine job of overcoming their flour issues and got to the business of making pizzas. The same is true today, snag a bag of the "different" flour and experiment with it to broaden your learning curve, but what about the mistakes? Trust me, there will always be someone waiting just outside of the kitchen all to eager to help you make those mistake pizzas go away never to be seen again.
I relinquish the soap box.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I did that too, I worked at AIB during the day (6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. including travel time) dinner with the family and off to the store at 7:00 p.m. Worked at the store until 12:00 a.m. and back home to repeat on the following day. I did this for nearly 2-years until I got my staff and got them all trained. It's a tough grind to be sure! More importantly, I was A LOT younger then too.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Also, remember that we go to all the trouble of preheating the oven and the stone/steel and then we open the oven to peel the pizza in, depending upon how proficient one is at peeling a pizza into the oven can have a huge impact upon how much heat is lost from the oven during the process. This is especially so with today's "200" Energy Star rated ovens.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Wotavidone has answered the question for me, spot-on! Thank you!
While approximately 10% protein content is a bit on the low side it is entirely doable, especially when mixing the dough by hand.
While there are many different ways to mix a dough by hand here is the way that I do it.
Put water in mixing bowl (70F) 60% of the flour weight.
Add the salt and sugar to the water (no need to stir).
Put the yeast in 5% of the flour weight of 100F water, stir to suspend the yeast. IF CY or IDY you can now add the yeast suspension directly to the water in the bowl, if it is ADY allow the yeast to activate for 10-minutes before adding it to the water.
Immediately add the flour and begin ti stir the dough with a wooden spoon, after a minute, or so, add the oil and continue mixing until the dough becomes too stiff to mix with the spoon, now begin mixing by hand until you have a homogeneous dough.
Turn the dough out of the bowl using a plastic bowl scraper to get it all out, lightly oil the bowl and the dough, knead the dough for a few minutes (3-minutes), form the dough into a ball and place back into the oiled bowl, cover (drape) with a piece of plastic and allow to ferment for about 2-hours.
Turn the dough out of the bowl again and knead it until it just takes on a smooth appearance, oil the bowl, form the dough into a ball again and place back into the bowl.
Cover the bowl with a piece of stretch wrap but do not seal it tightly, place in the fridge to cold ferment for about 24-hours (48-hours max.).
After the CF period bring the dough out of the fridge and allow it to warm to 60F internal ball temperature (about 90-minutes), turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface, flour both sides of the dough ball and open into a skin by your preferred method.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There should also be a nutritional panel too, what does it say?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

About a week or two out from opening begin making pizzas and send them out to local charities, police station, fire station, etc. This will give your crew a chance to practice and serve to advertise your presence. When opening, I would advise you not to do a grand opening, instead do a soft/quiet opening, if you have done your pre-opening work you will have customers coming in to check you out. This will allow you to work out any serving issues that might crop up (they always do) while allowing your staff to ramp up their skills gradually. In these trying times I don't think you'll get "hammered" as is usual for a new opening restaurant but you never know. Once your staff is comfortable and you feel ready for it, then is the time to consider a grand opening. Many of the restaurants that I've worked with never had to do a grand opening, once the word got out that they were open they were too busy for a grand opening! .
Best of luck!
Please keep us posted.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We have discussed cold fermenting dough balls in bags a number of times here so I'll just summarize. When cold fermenting the dough balls in bags DO NOT use ZipLock bags, instead use bread type bags. Lightly oil the dough ball(s) and drop into individual bags, twist the open end of the bag into a pony tail and tuck the pony tail under the dough ball as you place it in the fridge (DO NOT SECURE THE OPEN END IN ANY OTHER WAY), after the CF period remove from fridge and allow to temper AT (NOT TO, AT) room temperature until the internal dough ball temperature reaches 55 to 60F, then roll the bag down around the dough ball and invert it over a floured surface or bowl of flour, the dough ball will invert the bag as it falls free. Flour both sides of the dough ball and open into a skin by your preferred method. Save the bags and store in a small covered bowl in the fridge for the next time you make pizzas.
Note: When placing the dough ball into the bag try to pull the bag snug, but NOT tight to the dough ball. If you search back through some of the threads on the topic I think you will find some good pics of bagged dough balls.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yes to both of your questions. What can you tell us about the AP flour you have on hand? Can you sens a picture of the ingredient panel? The reason I ask is because all AP flours are not created equal, some are more like a bread flour while others are more like a pastry flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'll be brief. Delay the opening and DON'T quit the day job!!!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Before you make the next bake try adding 2% sugar to the dough formula (flour weight X 2 (press the "%" key) and read the sugar weight in the display window. Note: Ingredient weight will be in the same weight units (pounds, ounces, grams, etc.) that the flour weight was shown in.
Rather than baking the pizzas in a lower rack position you might also try raising the rack to a higher position (closer to the heat) as this should also help in getting better crust color.
Now, with all of that said, I might suggest one other thing, rather then starting with a "00" flour, set it aside for now and see if you can get a bag of regular bread type flour, use this flour to perfect your skills, dough formulation and dough management procedure, once you're enjoying some good pizzas that's the time to introduce the "00" flour and begin perfecting the dough formula and procedure with that flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What shelf position are you baking on? If you are not baking on the highest shelf position try moving your pizzas to a higher position in the oven.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Yes one can. Find out how much protein your existing flour has and subtract this from the percent protein you want the flour to have, divide this number by 0.6 and that is the percent VWG you will need to add to bring your existing flour up to the desired protein level. Remember that you will need to increase dough absorption by 1.8% for each 1% VWG you add. Make sure to blend the VWG into the flour to prevent pilling of the VWG.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I can imagine a scale that would require you to enter the temperature of the water and then a microprocessor would calculate the density and show the water as a volumetric measure in ml based on the weight of the water.
I think I'll just stay with my multi mode scale as I work mostly in metrics anyhow.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm staying with my yeast guess.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your best bet by far will be to fully bake the pizzas but to bake them to your minimum standard of being "done", to allow to cool, slice into desired size pieces, individually wrap each piece in cling wrap and freeze. I do not recommend trying to recon (reheat) the pizza directly from the freezer, instead either place it in the fridge to thaw or thaw at room temperature (you will need to work out the time needed to thaw as it will vary with the pizza). Place into a 350F oven to reheat. The time again, will need to be determined.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Ml. on a scale? That's a first!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Dan;
You certainly came to the right place! Take a look at the posts on New York style pizzas and you'll find yourself chin deep in "high gluten" flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Try my New York dough formula but reduce the dough absorption to 56%, CF for 48-hours, allow the dough balls to temper to 50F internal temperature, open dough balls using a rolling pin or pastry pin to about 3/16-inch thickness, dock the dough well using a dough docker, fit the skin into a lightly oiled, bright colored (not seasoned) cutter pan, dress and bake at 500F. Bench mark from there and lets see how close that gets you.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

As you didn't mention anything about the dough feeling different we'll "assume" that it felt pretty normal to you, so I'm guessing you might have made an error in scaling the yeast or possibly scaled it right but maybe used IDY instead of ADY which when used at the same levels would create a slight increase in overall yeast level. Just not enough information to make a better SWAG. In any case it's good to hear that you enjoyed the pizza regardless of what it looked like, like I always say "even our mistakes can taste pretty good".
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Dasnyde4;
The only time you might really want to use a "high gluten" flour (14+% protein content) is when making a more authentic New York style pizza. The dough formula and procedure performs very well using just about any decent bread type flour, with the only real difference being that the finished crust will not be as chewy as it would be if made using a flour like All Trumps. It will still be chewy, just not as chewy. This might even prove to be a good thing for you as some prefer a pizza that isn't quite as chewy as a traditional New York style pizza.
Welcome to the forum and let us know if you have any questions or problems along the way.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I occasionally run into the same problem, when I do I just place the pan on a pizza screen and bake it that way.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

And the baking temperature was?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A number of years ago we did a study on similarity of flour by type from different manufacturers, we found that there was a very high level of similarity between bread, and H&R type flours. The so called "high gluten" flours were somewhat variable with some having a protein content as low as 12% while others were in the 13 to 14+% range. With AP type flours we found even greater variances as some AP flours were made from soft wheat varieties and others were made from hard what varieties with protein content all over the board from a low of 9% to a high of nearly 12%, and remember that there is a significant difference in the gluten characteristics between flours made using hard and soft wheat. Based on this study we developed the recommendation to be very cautious when changing brands of AP flour.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I love my KD-8000! We use it for when making jerky and preserves and anything else where we need to weigh something in the kitchen. Two scales are the way to go but if you don't have the accuracy range you want from a KD-8000 just weigh, put into water and stir, then divide. For example, if you want 1-gram of yeast, weigh two grams into two small glasses of 100F water, stir to suspend the yeast and portion out one of the glasses. What you will have in the glass will be close enough to 1-gram for making pizza dough. Be sure to include the water in the suspension as part of the dough water and you're good to go.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In countries where noodle production is one of the major products made from imported wheat or flour  and bread or pastry production is secondary I've seen a number of cases where the lower protein HRW (HRW #!) is blended with the higher protein durum wheat/flour to provide a higher protein flour option. Many international millers don't have any baking background so they have little or no concept of the ramifications this can have for the end user. Like I said, it just an educated guess based on the information provided. The relatively high ash content shown on the flour specification also shows that the flour is what we refer to as a high extraction rate flour (typical U.S. white flour runs at about 0.6% ash while whole wheat flour comes in at 1.0 to about 1.25%).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Are you sure you want to leave the dough balls come all the way up to room temperature after the CF period? The dough can be problematic at room temperature in some cases, this is why pizzerias use 50F (internal ball temperature) and many home pizza makers use 60 to 65F (internal ball temperature) for the target temperature before opening the dough balls into skins. Poplar is probably one of the most common woods used for dough boxes and bagel boards because of its dense grain which doesn't tend to splinter like some of the hardwoods do. In the cracker industry, we used to use wood dough troughs for fermenting the cracker doughs (18 to 24-hours) and when the wood troughs were no longer permitted we found that there was a change in the flavor of the finished crackers. It was found that the wood would become inoculated with a strain of lacto bacillus which in turn migrated into the dough during the fermentation period resulting is a specif flavor development which could not be achieved in the mandated steel fermentation troughs. The specific strain of LB was identified and added as a supplement to the dough at the time of mixing thus restoring the original flavor to the crackers. Keep in mind though that this is all based on using well used wood dough troughs (boxes in your case) and the dough was in the box for 18 to 24-hours. Cracker doughs are around 40% absorption so there was never much of a problem with the dough becoming one with the wood. Note that these wood dough troughs were never washed, they were just scraped clean for the next use. Cold fermenting the dough for 24 to 48-hours, or more in a plastic box and then transferring it to a wood box to temper prior to opening would serve no useful purpose.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It should work just fine, I've used the G.M. Sperry organic flour many times with my dough formula and dough management procedure with the added (optional) 2% sugar.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It would if you took a break between suspending the yeast in the salt water and adding the flour, otherwise it would not cause any problem, on the other hand if the yeast amount was the same and you went from 2% to 3% salt (a 50% difference) that might explain the difference. What I suggest you do is to make the dough again but use only 2% salt, if you get better fermentation you'll have your answer, let me know what you find.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Phil;
Welcome to the site! Hopefully we can help you make your dream a reality.
Your ideas are sound, and buying "local" can be a significant benefit, try to incorporate that theme into your advertising. One word of caution though, while N.Y. pizzas are great, they may not be perceived that way by once you get away from the east coast. A case in point, I worked with a young man here in Manhattan, Kansas about 12-years ago in opening a N.Y. pizzeria. Got the pizza nailed down tight, sauce and toppings too, even the store decor...pizza was judged just ho-hum. The problem was that people in this area want and really like a crispy crust regardless of the type of pizza it is. We made changes to the pizza so we now have a VERY CRISPY crust but retained all of the physical appearance characteristics of the N.Y. pizza. Truth is, we now have a New Haven style pizza, but the customers love it, so much so that the owner, Adam Peyton, now has three stores and has been named "best pizza" numerous times, in our local market area AJ's Pizzeria is without doubt the preferred pizzeria. (AJ's New York Pizzeria, Manhattan, Kansas). Point is, know your market and give your customers what they want and you'll have a leg up over the saddle on your way to success.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Now I'm unconfused. but I still have some questions as to exactly what you are wanting to do.
So we want to room temperature ferment our dough in dough boxes measuring approximately 18 X 24-inches, right? I saw your reference to a heat lamp but the refrigerator part leads me to believe this assumption might be wrong. Maybe you just want to use the refrigerator as an insulated box? I guess the questions I'm asking now is "what temperature do you want to ferment your dough at, and how many dough boxes are we talking about?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Why do you want to proof the dough in your dough boxes? After CF just place at room temperature and allow the dough balls to warm to 50 to 60F internal temperature before opening into skins.
Pan pizzas are proofed after the dough is fitted into the pan before dressing and baking.
Is there a possibility that you mean "fermentation" rather than proofing?
Please unconfuse me.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

The thing about SD starters is that it's a crap-shoot as to what you get. You really don't know what you're culturing/growing until you go to use it. Once you find something that you like treat it like you would important computer data, back it up! Start a second one using the first one to inoculate the back-up thus ensuring you'll have the same micro-flora. Then if you lose one you will still have another to work with and to propagate another/more from without losing the flavor or performance of the master S.D. starter.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Use less potato.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

From a practical point in home use application the rate of deterioration between ADY and IDY is about the same.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, just the flour and the water for the autolyze. Add the potato into the dough not the autolyze.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Easiest question to answer for the day: No.
Based on that I would move insufficient dough absorption to the bottom of my list of things to look at. I have never had any problem making bread or pizza doughs with just 20% added rye flour, it's not until you get up into amounts over 35% that things begin to get interesting with the dough unless additional VWG is added to help carry the rye flour. I think your approach is a good one to look at just the flour alone and then look at the starter and the added grains.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

RI;
I might add that with this type of dough it's important to suspend the yeast in the water and then add the salt and sugar, give it a quick stir and add the flour, then add the butter. The best way to add the butter is to cut it into pieces or shave it onto a piece of paper and then allow it to warm to room temperature, it is then added right on top of the flour just before you begin mixing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

No, just make the autolyze and add it to the bowl then the remainder of the ingredients (no more flour or water) and mix, then proceed as suggested or as you wish to.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In a word, yes.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

From your description I am wondering if the flour might not be made from a specially milled hard red spring wheat which has a larger particle size (slower to hydrate resulting in a sticky dough). This would not be a durum semolina but more like a spring wheat semolina flour. We do the same thing here in the U.S. using hard red winter wheat varieties where the flour is designed specifically for making pasta.
Here is something to try, make an autolyze of the flour and 70% of the flour weight as water. Allow this to set for 1-hour, then add the remaining ingredients and see if you get a better dough. The absorption might not be correct but it should be better than what you have been getting and not as sticky either. If the flour is made from all spring wheat the dough should open pretty well after 24 to 48-hours cold fermentation but if the flour is made from a blend of both spring wheat and durum wheat you may find the dough to be too elastic for making donuts.
For your process, mix, (targeted finished dough temperature is 80 to 85F/26.6 to 29.4C), then bulk ferment for 1-hour, divide into 2 or 3Kg. pieces and form into loaves, cover the loaves and allow to ferment for 1.25-hours, then begin rolling the dough out to about 8mm in thickness, cut the donuts from the sheeted dough. Place cut donuts on a frying screen or flour dusted cloth on a sheet pan or proofing board and allow to proof for about 45-minutes, fry approximately 1-minute on each side at 365F/185C.
Don't worry about the flour not being malted as your donut formula already has plenty of sugar in it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

There is a commercial method of scaling and balling that I show in one of my videos on my web site at <www.doughdoctor.com> very fast with one person balling approximately 85-pounds of dough in under 20-minutes (12-ounce scaling weight).
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

We do begin to see some changes in the "brew" (which is what you are describing) after about 36-hours in the fridge but these changes are hard to see in pizza crust production (bread making is a TOTALLY different story) so you should be good doing as proposed, but since we are not propagating yeast we are only diluting the existing population of cells, with time you will find that you will need to add ever increasing amounts of the brew to maintain equivalent gassing/fermentation power.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Flour: 100% 500-grams
Salt: 1.75% 8.75-g.
Sugar: 2% (optional) 10-g.
Yeast: CY 1% 5-g.
Butter: 6% 30-g.
Water: 45% 225-g.

Total: 778.75-g
Bowl and fermentation loss: 75-g.
Yield: 703.75-g.

Use the trim dough to make a few bread sticks for appetizers. or just cut into strips about 1/2-inch wide and desired length to make a dipping bread stick.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I use equal parts of regular white flour, FINE corn meal, and semolina flour. If you ask 50 different people what works best for them you'll probably get close to 50 different answers.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's an impossible question to answer as I don't know how much damage the CY has sustained as a result of being frozen (CY does not tolerate freezing all that well). The best advice I can offer is to use it at 2.5 times your IDY level and see how it performs. If it appears slow you can increase the amount of CY but be aware that the freezing process will damage the yeast cells resulting in the release of glutathione into the dough making softer and more extensible than normal. To some extent this can be addressed by reducing the total dough absorption a couple percent. If you see any of this I wouldn't advise trying for any long fermentation times (limit CF to not more than 24-hours) as the softening will continue during the CF time.
By the way, unopened IDY can be frozen for up to 2-years with just a 25% loss of activity.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Are you including the rye flour in the total flour? The total flour should include only the gluten forming flours. Other flours mentioned such as spelt have a very low amount of gluten forming proteins and they create a poor quality gluten, ditto for rye flour, it appears that you are milling the steel cut wheat into a flour so that being the case it can be included in the total flour, if not milled into a flour it should be shown separately an an added ingredient. To determine the dough absorption figure 62% for the white flour portion and 75% for the dark rye flour portion, this should get you pretty close to the correct dough absorption. For the other flours use the same procedure as you would for finding the absorption of a multi-grain mix. If you search back through the archives you should find several threads of discussion on how this is done.
I hope this helps,
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Most cracker type doughs are made with a dough absorption of 40 to 45% and about 5% fat in the form of shortening as opposed to oil. They are mixed for a VERY SHORT TIME, usually about 2-minutes or less. The "dough" after mixing looks a lot like a biscuit or pie dough in that it is extremely "shaggy" and not cohesive at all, but instead it is dry, floury, and crumbly. The dough is scaled to desired weight and packed together on the bench top using your hands to form something that looks a bit like a puck (hockey puck), this is then wrapped in stretch wrap or placed onto a sheet pan with a 2-inch spacing between pucks and the entire sheet pan bagged or wrapped. The dough is allowed to cold ferment for a minimum of 24-hours but may go as long as 48-hours, it is then removed from the cooler and allowed to temper AT room temperature until the internal puck temperature reaches 55F, the pucks are then formed into skins using a dough sheeter or a rolling pin/pastry pin. Formed skins are trimmed to diameter and dressed for baking, usually at 500 to 550F.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What was the total dough absorption for each of the doughs?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Can you share your complete dough formulas? What I see in the photos of the dough balls is a case of insufficient dough absorption, this is especially evident with the two rye dough balls. The stickiness you noted with the rye dough is totally normal for rye, and depending upon the strength of the white flour that you're using VWG will most likely need to be included in the dough formulation
NOTE: Depending upon the type of rye flour (light, medium or dark) the absorption of the rye flour will be something between 68 and 75%. Plus, if it's a pumpernickel rye flour it will require a soaker.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You didn't mention anything about the size of the dough skin or the weight of the dough ball, this can have an impact on it too. If the problem is just due to opening technique you might want to try this to get things started:
Use a rolling pin to open the dough ball to within  2-inches of the desired diameter, then finish opening the dough by hand.
I've got a video of this procedure being used commercially. It works well and we get individuals who have never opened a dough ball by hand doing it in no time at all. Once you begin to get the hang of it you won't need to use the rolling pin anymore. P.M. me with your email address or send me an email at <thedoughdoctor@hotmail.com> and ask for the dough opening video.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

That's more like it!
Now you can adjust the amount of dough in the rim portion when you open the skins and also adjust how far out you spread the sauce to achieve the rim you want.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

One other thing I might add, have you confirmed the actual temperature of your oven using a calibrated thermometer or an IR thermometer? In many cases where one is baking directly on a stone or steel the oven door is left open for some time which DRAMATICALLY reduces the actual oven temperature at the time the pizza is placed in the oven. You can use an IR thermometer to measure the temperature both before and after placing the pizza into the oven. If you don't own one of these handy devices they are readily available from most home stores as well as Harbor Freight and online sources too. I recently picked up yet another one, this time for use in the garage, from H.F. for just $17.00.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Those "industry created shortcuts" are made by fermenting flour and water to create the lactic acid and then spray drying or roller drying with sufficient temperature and time to inactivate the material. The problem is that there is primarily only one acid present, lactic, while in a naturally fermented dough or even a sourdough there are other acids present as well which changes the entire flavor profile. This is one reason why my suggestion for using these products is to incorporate some regular fermentation into the dough and use the inactive sourdough material at only 1/2 of the LOWEST recommended level and work up from there if necessary.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For your next try turning the broiler on 15-minutes before putting the pizza into the oven (this is after a 1-hour pre-heat time) and increase the sugar level in your dough to 3%, or three time what you are presently using. Don't make any other changes but do record everything that you do. Let us know if this provides further improvement in crust color.
The dryness you noted in the crust is due to the par-baking of the crust. Par-baked crusts are always significantly lower in finished moisture content than single baked crusts.
After you get a baking steel you should be able to open the skin, dress it and bake it without par-baking.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

I'm guessing 48-hours and 0.4% IDY.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

For pan pizza most go by just the risen height of the dough in the pan. Pizza Hut used to have a mark/line stamped into their deep-dish pans as an indicator of how high to allow the dough to rise.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

At one time we used to see a lot of pizzerias blanching the green pepper slices for use in a slice operation. The reason for this is because the blanched slices do not weep (give up water) as fresh pepper slices do. They might have been using some form of canned green pepper slices but that would also be pretty close to blanched too.
Saute them as suggested will accomplish much of the same thing, something to experiment with.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Here is a simple trick that I've used any number of time where refrigeration was non-existent, follow your present procedure BUT withhold 1/2 of the flour and 1/3 of the water. After the dough has fermented for the desired time, on the morning that you want to make pizza add the remainder of flour and water to the fermented dough mass, mix in well, then immediately scale and ball, place dough into lightly oiled containers, lightly cover (NOT AIR TIGHT), and allow to ferment until you are ready to make your pizzas (at least 6-hours), turn dough out of the container onto a flour dusted bench, dust the dough ball on both sides and open into a skin by your preferred manned, dress and bake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

CC;
Your picture graphically shows what a totally over fermented and collapsed dough looks like.
If you are to continue making pizza under those conditions you will need to reduce the amount of yeast dramatically, how much I cannot say as I don't know anything about the temperature at which the dough was fermented at but for starters I would suggest something around 0.05% (0.4-grams) CY/fresh yeast.
Now, I see that you have a question mark by the "fresh" when referencing the yeast, does this mean that the yeast is of questionable quality/freshness/age? Old yeast or improperly stored CY (stored at temperature above 40F/4.4C) can release glutathione into the dough resulting in an overly soft/extensible/weak/sticky dough. If your yeast was stored in the fridge with the broken thermostat this might be a contributing factor.
Also, I might add that if  you are machine mixing, your mixing process can be made a little more direct by just putting the water into the mixing bowl, adding the yeast and then adding all of the flour and salt, then begin mixing. Your first three steps as shown serve no practical purpose with CY when machine mixing.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your family is in our prayers.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Bob;
Egg Shade is the coloring material used by many pizzerias in Chicago, since it's available on line and relatively inexpensive you might want to order some. Many pizzerias us 6-ounces for a 50# flour dough so you can use that to calculate the amount you will need in your dough. The darker colored dough will absorb more heat which will help with the browning of the dough.
If you can only bake at 450F can you move the oven shelf to a position closer to the heat if you have bottom heating?
Assuming you are allowing at least an hour for the oven and steel to heat before baking.
If all else fails try removing the pizza from the pan and placing it right on the steel for a minute or so to achieve a stronger bottom bake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your dough looks kinda dead to me so I'm guessing it's your yeast.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

What you are looking at there is essentially a no-time dough or at the very best a short-time dough, neither of which will win any contests for the best tasting pizza crust. It's OK for a "feed me" pizza but that's about where that road ends. Why not just go for an over night fermentation at room temperature? If you are using IDY reduce it to 0.1% (be sure to suspend it in a SMALL amount of 95F water then add it to the dough water, no need to activate as ADY. If using ADY use 0.125% and hydrate/activate according to directions, if using CY use 0.25% and put directly into dough water and whisk to suspend then add to the mixer. Adjust the dough water temperature to 50F and allow to mix just long enough to achieve a smooth dough consistency. Divide into desired weight pieces and ball, place into lightly oiled containers and cover with a piece of foil (DO NOT SEAL TIGHTLY), place in a cool spot to ferment for 18 to 24-hours, then turn out of the container(s) onto a flour or fine corn meal dusted surface, coat the dough ball well and open into a skin by your preferred method, dress and bake.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

First things first:
1) Are you using a dark colored deep-dish pan?
2) Are you baking at an honest 525F?
3) Are you using margarine or Butter Flavored Crisco in the pan?
4) What are you baking on (stone, steel, grid)?
5) Do you use Egg Shade coloring in the dough?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Please explain/describe what you have including the dough formulation.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

By all means add sugar to your dough, 2% is a good starting point but you can go higher if you want. You seemed disappointed that the 2% sugar didn't give the crust a sweet taste, pizza crust is not typically sweet tasting but if you want to have a sweeter tasting crust you have to go to at least 5% sugar for starters. If you are baking with the broiled element on that's why your cheese is getting browned too fast. You might try moving the pizza to a lower rack position. Additionally, how long are you preheating the oven/stone? You want to preheat for at least 1-hour.  A baking steel will probably help a lot.
Hand kneaded dough will always be more sticky than a machine mixed dough that is properly mixed, that's not a problem though as the condition will improve as the dough is allowed to ferment.
Your bread flour should be just fine in it is malted (check the bag).
In the mean time some things you might need to do:
1) Place the cheese in the freezer for 30-minutes prior to use.
2) Tent the top of the pizza with a piece of foil for about the first 5-minutes of the bake time (you will need to experiment).
3) If you are getting bubbling during baking the dough might be too cold (did not allow to warm to 55F internal dough ball temperature), par-bake with 1/2 of the sauce applied to the skin usually fixes the problem, or you may need to also dock the skin prior to dressing.
This is all based on the assumption that you are correctly following my dough formula and dough management procedure.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If its just a leaven we're talking about I'd set it outside, it should be just fine.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

If you are running a short fermentation schedule you may need to add a little more fermentation time but if you are fermenting your dough as most of us do, 24-hours or more, you probably won't ever see the difference.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

It is common knowledge that salt impacts yeast activity at levels above 1.5% in most dough formulations. This is addressed quite easily be an increase in the yeast level. Essentially all dough formulations which you find are already have the yeast level adjusted for the salt level to achieve a decent fermentation rate. If you want to see this for yourself just make a double size dough without any added salt, then mix until the dough comes together and forms a mass, remove from the mixing bowl, weigh the dough, divide it into two equal weight pieces, put one piece back into the mixer and add 1% salt based on the weight of flour in the dough piece, mix the dough for another 5-minutes, remove from the mixing bowl and cut off 75-grams, form into a ball and place into a lightly oiled tall drinking glass. Do the same thing with the other dough piece but add 3% salt to it, lightly tent each glass with a small piece of foil and set side by side to observe how the dough rises in each glass over the next several hours.

To see the affect of salt on gluten strength make two doughs, one without any added salt and the other with 2% added salt, pay close attention to how the gluten develops as well as how the dough feels at all stages of development.

Salt has a tremendous impact upon the taste of the baked product, when insufficient salt is used the finished product has a "starchy" taste and when excessive salt is used it has a salty taste. Some people like the salty taste while other do not, plus there are a lot of people who recognize the potential health concerns associated with excessive sodium in their diet so they try to limit sodium consumption. Salt by itself is not a flavoring but instead it should be used only to accentuate flavors already present.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

All of which contribute to oven spring, which without you would have nothing much more than a large poker chip.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Grease Wheel: You left the door open on this one! 
With GUSTO!

Artimas: Can you please describe the differences you are seeing?
There is a quantum leap between the average pizzeria and the average home kitchen when it comes to making pizza dough, but the biggest difference that I've seen is in how the dough is refrigerated. Most home refrigerators are really not all that good for dough storage as in many cases they lack the necessary refrigeration capacity but more importantly it is small in comparison to a walk-in cooler or even a commercial reach-in cooler so every time the door is opened the temperature fluctuation is significant, it may not seen so, but it is. This temperature fluctuation will have a significant impact upon the dough over the course of 24 and more hours. In many cases we can address this by targeting a lower finished dough temperature or by modifying our dough management procedure to better accommodate our unique conditions under which we make our pizzas. When teaching pizza making at homes I always tell everyone that the first thing we need to do is to have a dough formula and dough management procedure that allows us to make a decent pizza, then we need to fine tune it to allow us to make a great pizza on a consistent basis (this is a real confidence builder), after that I encourage them to experiment making different types of pizzas/pizza doughs/crusts, such as wheat, whole-wheat, multi-grain, Tex-Mex, Asian, based on thin crust or deep-dish formats (whatever their family preference is). Pizza making should be a family fun adventure in pizza cuisine, and now that we're hopefully all at home with our families this is a great time to get everyone involved in the pizza making process. My wife and I have made a pizza together for dinned for the last two days, the first one was a vegetarian topped N.Y. style and last nights pizza was a shrimp topped pizza with Alfredo sauce instead of a red sauce seasoned with dried dill from our garden last year, then we added left oven vegetables from the previous nights pizza preparation. No complaints form my better looking half! Like the old adage goes, "Happy wife, happy life" 
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 

I have to plead innocent as I know noting about it. I've not been contacted nor informed of anything. I am sure there is a lot of confusion and work going on over this whole thing of needing to cancel Pizza Expo so when/if something falls through the cracks it is totally understandable. I give them full credit for their attempts to provide a level of training the industry desperately needs right now.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

In one word: Absolutely! IDY is no different than ADY or CY when it comes to application and performance. 24 to 48-hours is not really considered to be a long fermentation time in the realm of pizza dough. If you have a balanced dough formula and have an effective dough management procedure the amount of IDY to use for 24 to 48-hours CF will probably be in the in the range of 0.3 to 0.4%.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

You are confusing bakers percent and "true" percent which is based on the total dough or meat weight. To convert a dough formula into true percent just divide the individual ingredient weights by the total dough weight and multiply by 100. The problem with using true percent with dough formulations is that if you change any one ingredient you have to go back and recalculate the percent for each of the other ingredients.
By the way, there isn't that much difference in finished moisture content between a high absorption and low absorption dough until you drop down into the 40% and lower absorption range.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Why would you want to do that when the salt percentage is based on the flour weight?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Huh?
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

A fully baked pizza crust will typically come in at between 22 and 28% moisture content as compared to white pan bread at 38 to 40% and pretzels which come in at 2 to 4% moisture content.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Your dough formula contains a SLUG of IDY as well as a SLUG of salt! I would suggest bringing the IDY down to about 0.15% and the salt down to 2% or 2.5% if you're addicted to salt. In addition to dough formulation the temperature of the room where the panned dough is being proofed as well as the temperature of the dough at the time of panning are also critical factors that enter into determining the correct yeast amount, without this information my suggestion for yeast amount should be considered as an educated SWAG.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Really nothing to washing it, just use a hard plastic scraper to scrape the bowl out when you remove the dough then straight to the sink where it's filled with hot water, agitator then goes into the bowl and I get back to my pizza making chores. After the dough is put up I go back to the sink and finish washing the bowl and agitator and wipe down the mixer with a damp towel. Since we are not blessed with acres of counter space I find it more troublesome to drag the mixer out from its hiding space than to wash it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor